Trump administration can continue mass firings of federal workers, US judge rules
The Trump administration can for now continue its mass firings of federal employees rejecting a bid by a group of labor unions to halt President Donald Trump’s dramatic downsizing of the roughly 2.3 million-strong federal workforce.
The ruling by U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper in federal court is temporary while the litigation plays out. But it is a win for the Trump administration as it seeks to purge the federal workforce slashing what it deems wasteful and fraudulent government spending.
The National Treasury Employees Union and four other unions sued last week to block the administration from firing hundreds of thousands of federal workers and granting buyouts to employees who quit voluntarily.
The unions are seeking to block eight agencies including the Department of Defense, Department of Health and Human Services, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and Department of Veterans Affairs from implementing mass layoffs.
Cooper on Thursday said he likely lacks the power to hear the case, and that the unions instead must file complaints with a federal labor board that hears disputes between unions and federal agencies.
Trump has tapped Tesla CEO (TSLA.O), opens new tabElon Musk to lead a new Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, which has swept through federal agencies slashing thousands of jobs and dismantling federal programs since Trump became president last month and put Musk in charge of rooting out what he deems wasteful spending as part of Trump's dramatic overhaul of government. Trump also ordered federal agencies to work closely with DOGE to identify federal employees who could be laid off.
Termination emails were sent last week to workers across the federal government, mostly recently hired employees still on probation, at agencies such as the Department of Education, the Small Business Administration, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the General Services Administration, and others.
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