April 10 (UPI) — A divided federal appeals court has struck down an order that was forcing the administration of President Donald Trump to reinstate tens of thousands of fired workers, permitting the federal government to dismiss the employees again.
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 on Wednesday to stay a ruling issued in mid-March ordering Trump to temporarily reinstate the roughly 25,000 probationary employees who were fired from 18 federal agencies as part of the president’s plan to dramatically reduce government costs and shrink the size of the government.
The lawsuit was brought against the Trump administration by 19 states and the District of Columbia, which accused the government of illegally firing the probationary employees. They had argued the mass terminations qualified as “reductions in force,” which require federal agencies to provide employees and states with 60 days notice of the terminations in order to prepare.
While a Maryland judge agreed with the Democratic-led states last month, and ordered the employees to be reinstated, the appeals court on Wednesday ruled in the government’s favor, saying the lower court lacked authority to issue such a ruling, though it did not elaborate.
“The Government is likely to succeed in showing the district court lacked jurisdiction over Plaintiffs’ claims,” it said.
In dissent, Judge DeAndrea Gist, a President Joe Biden appointee, disagreed, stating the government failed to give the states the termination information they were entitled to receive.
She also said the mass firings are causing “real harm with significant adverse effects,” including an increase in unemployment benefits applications, resources required to investigate the influx in applications, additional costs connected with the strain placed on rapid response programs and the loss of support from federal employees who were working with various state agencies.
“These harms, among others, plainly satisfy the concreteness requirement and thus provide the necessary grounds for Article III standing,” she wrote.
Judges Allison Rushing, a President Donald Trump appointee, and James Wilkinson, a President Ronald Reagan appointee, sided with the government.
The ruling comes after the Supreme Court ruled Tuesday in a similar case that the Trump administration does not have to reinstate some 16,000 fired workers.
