The Merit Systems Protection Board has temporarily reinstated nearly 6,000 probationary workers from the Department of Agriculture who were recently fired, challenging the Trump administration’s mass layoffs. The board’s order suggests the terminations may have been unlawful, citing improper procedures for dismissing employees. The layoffs began on February 13, with the administration claiming these workers were not in the “public interest.” Investigations are ongoing, and the USDA must confirm compliance with reinstatement within five days. This marks a significant move against Trump’s efforts to alter the federal civil service landscape and may impact similar firings across various agencies.
CNN
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A labor board is temporarily reinstating nearly 6,000 probationary employees from the Department of Agriculture, according to a recent order obtained by CNN.
This order from the Merit Systems Protection Board challenges President Donald Trump’s efforts to reduce the federal workforce and strongly suggests that the mass layoffs were illegal and could potentially be overturned by the board.
It further indicates that the board may reconsider the Trump administration’s strategy regarding mass terminations in various federal agencies.
The affected probationary workers, those who have held their positions for about a year or less, began losing their jobs at the USDA on February 13. The Trump administration’s rationale for this workforce reduction was that these employees “demonstrated that [their] further employment” would not be “in the public interest.”
A special counsel who reviewed the employees’ claims argued before the board that the mass layoffs did not adhere to the legal requirements for federal workforce reductions. On Wednesday, the Merit Systems Protection Board concurred, in an opinion authored by board member Gina Grippando.
As a result, the workers are expected to return to work immediately, at least for a period of 45 days starting Wednesday, Grippando noted. The special counsel—a separate entity from the more widely known special counsels at the Justice Department, such as Jack Smith and Robert Mueller—will now conduct a deeper investigation, and the board will reexamine the legal aspects surrounding the mass layoffs at the USDA to ascertain whether the terminations were illegal.
The primary employee involved in the case before the board, whose identity has been withheld, was a forestry technician who lost his job on February 13, as stated in the opinion.
He informed the board that he had received only positive evaluations from agency leadership regarding his performance and had never faced disciplinary action for any performance-related issues. Furthermore, his supervisor was not aware of his impending termination until just hours before he received the notice, according to the board’s records.
The board announced on Wednesday that the reinstatement applies to all USDA probationary employees terminated since February 13, specifically those who were informed by the administration that they were losing their jobs due to performance concerns. According to the Agriculture Department, at least 5,950 probationary staff members have lost their positions in the past two weeks.
The Agriculture Department must provide evidence to the board within five days proving compliance with the employees’ reinstatement, as outlined in the board’s opinion.
The USDA has not yet responded to a request for comment.
This marks the first instance of a successful mass termination case, even at a preliminary level, aiming to reinstate thousands of probationary employees targeted by the Trump administration.
Such firings have occurred across various agencies, sparking legal challenges in multiple federal courts and before the Merit Systems Protection Board—an independent entity within the executive branch that the Trump administration is also attempting to influence.
This case follows the board’s recent decision to provisionally reinstate six probationary employees from different agencies who had been laid off since Trump took office.
Recently, courts have also undone Trump’s efforts to terminate two officials responsible for worker protection in these matters: Special Counsel Hampton Dellinger, who will continue investigating the firings, and MSPB board member Cathy Harris.
“The mass terminations of probationary employees at the USDA seem to have been executed in a manner that is contrary to federal personnel laws,” Dellinger stated in a release earlier this week. “In general, probationary employees can only be terminated if their individual performance or conduct proves them unfit for federal employment.”
This story is developing and will be updated.