SCOTUS Approves Trump Administration’s Dismissal of 16,000 Federal Workers – One America News Network
OAN Staff Brooke Mallory
4:39 PM – Tuesday, April 8, 2025
The Supreme Court overturned one of two lower court rulings that had prevented the Trump administration from dismissing approximately 16,000 federal probationary employees, marking a significant victory for the GOP administration.
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Nonetheless, the second injunction remains effective, pending its consideration by the Supreme Court.
The high court issued an emergency order that paused a federal judge’s directive in California, which mandated the reinstatement of employees from six federal departments: Agriculture, Defense, Energy, Interior, Treasury, and Veterans Affairs.
In legal terminology, “stayed” indicates a court order that temporarily suspends a legal process or the execution of a judgment — allowing for additional scrutiny or action.
The Supreme Court also determined that nonprofit groups opposing the mass layoffs lacked the necessary standing. Therefore, for now, the employees in those six departments will remain on paid administrative leave.
Meanwhile, an analogous order from a Maryland federal judge is still in effect across 19 states and the District of Columbia (DC), awaiting a response from the Supreme Court.
“The injunction from the [California] District Court was solely based on the claims from the nine nonprofit organizations involved. However, according to established law, these allegations currently do not provide adequate support for the organizations’ standing,” stated the unsigned order.
“This order does not address the claims from the other plaintiffs, which were not the basis for the District Court’s preliminary injunction.”
Liberal Justices Ketanji Brown Jackson and Sonia Sotomayor expressed their dissent, indicating they would have upheld the prior ruling. Jackson noted the absence of “demonstrated urgency” justifying the Supreme Court’s intervention, while Sotomayor did not elaborate.
Last month, U.S. District Judge William Alsup, appointed by former Democrat President Bill Clinton, characterized the mass firings as a “sham,” asserting that they were unlawfully ordered by the interim director and the Office of Personnel Management.
“It is disheartening, a disheartening day when our government dismisses capable employees and claims it is performance-related when they know full well that’s not true,” Alsup remarked earlier.
The lawsuit was initiated by a coalition of public sector unions and other entities but did not specify individual employees who had been terminated.
“There is no doubt that thousands of public service employees were unlawfully dismissed in an effort to undermine federal agencies and their vital programs that thousands rely on daily,” the plaintiffs asserted in a statement on Tuesday.
“Today’s Supreme Court ruling is profoundly disappointing but merely serves as a temporary setback in our quest to uphold the trial court’s orders and hold the federal government accountable,” they added.
In the Maryland case, Baltimore U.S. District Judge James Bredar, appointed by former Democrat President Barack Obama, contended that the Trump administration had failed to adhere to regulations mandating advance notice to states affected by the large-scale federal workforce reduction.
The allegations claimed that since Trump assumed office on January 20th, approximately 24,000 probationary employees have been dismissed overall. However, the government has not substantiated this figure.
In the meanwhile, conservative social media users took to X to share their perspectives on the recent Supreme Court developments.
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