- By Aditya Jha
- Fri, 28 Feb 2025 10:10 AM (IST)
- Source:JND
A US federal judge in California has temporarily blocked the Trump administration's order directing the US Defense Department and other agencies to carry out the mass firings of some employees. The district judge, William Alsup, on Thursday stated that the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has no power to order the agencies to fire any employees, adding that the rule is also applicable for the probationary employee with less than a year of experience.
The remarks from the US federal judge came after US President Donald Trump and Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) chief Elon Musk announced that employees from various departments will get laid off to cut costs in the administration. Musk had also stated that he wanted the federal employees to be more productive and also sought their weekly work reports.
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Alsup, in his order, directed the human resource department for federal agencies to overturn the emails sent to the agencies to identify the employees who should be fired. The OPM had sent the email to these agencies on January 20 and February 14 and directed them to prepare a list of the non-performing employees.
However, Alsup stated that he has no authority to order the defense department to not fire the 5,400 probationary employees, as they are not defendants in the lawsuits framed by the unions. Apart from this, he said that the recent developments may harm US society and the aspirations of the youth of the country. He stated that the firings at this scale are expected to cause widespread harm in the multiple sectors.
“Probationary employees are the lifeblood of our government. They come in at a low level and work their way up. That’s how we renew ourselves,” Alsup was quoted as saying by The Guardian. Elon Musk, on numerous occasions, has said that the US agencies will have to fire underperforming employees to increase the profit.