US Judge Orders Personnel Department to Rescind Federal Employee Dismissal Directive

On Thursday, a federal judge in the United States ordered the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to rescind a memorandum issued earlier instructing federal government agencies to terminate probationary employees. The judge deemed these memoranda potentially illegal.

Judge William Alsup of the Northern District of California Federal Court ruled on Thursday that the memorandum issued by the Office of Personnel Management on January 20 and the internal emails sent on February 14 directing federal agencies to terminate employees were “unlawful” and should be halted and rescinded.

Alsup ordered the Personnel Management Office to notify all federal agencies that they do not have the authority to demand the termination of employees, but the ruling did not require the reinstatement of federally terminated employees.

This order only applies to federal agencies related to the plaintiffs in this case, but the judge urged the government to further notify other federal agencies.

Alsup stated on Thursday, “According to any regulation in the history of this field, the Office of Personnel Management has no authority to hire and fire employees of other agencies. It can hire its own employees, yes. It can fire them. But it cannot order or instruct other agencies to do so.”

This complaint was jointly filed by five unions and five non-profit organizations, countering the Trump administration’s actions to reduce the federal workforce in other lawsuits. As part of a comprehensive overhaul of federal agencies, the Trump administration has already terminated thousands of probationary employees. Billionaire Elon Musk’s Government Efficiency Department (DOGE) led the effort to streamline the size of federal agencies.

It is estimated that there are about 200,000 probationary employees in federal agencies, who are typically government employees with less than a year of service. The lawsuit claims that approximately 15,000 such employees work in California, providing services such as firefighting and veteran care within the federal government.

Alsup mentioned that he will release a detailed opinion at the “appropriate time.” A hearing on the evidence is scheduled for March 13. The judge expressed his hope that Acting Director of the Personnel Management Office, Charles Ezell, could testify.