The Trump administration has, for the first time, acknowledged in court filings that nearly 25,000 recently hired federal workers were fired and confirmed that agencies are working to reinstate them following a judge’s ruling that their terminations were likely illegal.
The filings, submitted in federal court in Baltimore, Maryland, late Monday, included statements from officials at 18 different agencies, all confirming that the fired probationary workers are being placed on temporary administrative leave.
The mass firings were part of Trump’s broader effort to restructure the federal workforce and had been widely reported. However, the court filings represent the administration’s first comprehensive account of the dismissals.
The Treasury Department fired around 7,600 people, the Department of Agriculture let go of approximately 5,700, and the Department of Health and Human Services terminated over 3,200, according to the filings.
On March 13, US District Judge James Bredar ruled that the mass firings, which began last month, were illegal, and ordered the workers to be reinstated pending further litigation.
The ruling did not prevent the agencies from firing workers, but it took issue with how the firings were carried out, noting that agencies should have followed specific rules for conducting mass layoffs.
Probationary workers typically have less than one year of service, though some may have been employed for longer.
Judge Bredar stated on Tuesday that it appeared agencies were making “meaningful progress toward compliance” with his ruling, and he ordered them to update him on the reinstatement progress by Monday afternoon, expecting “substantial compliance.”
Bredar’s ruling came after a lawsuit filed by 19 Democrat-led states and Washington, DC, arguing that the mass firings would lead to a rise in unemployment claims and increased demand for state-provided social services.
Maryland’s Attorney General Anthony Brown’s office, which is leading the lawsuit, said it was reviewing the filings.
The Trump administration has appealed Bredar’s decision and has asked an appeals court in Richmond, Virginia, to pause the ruling while the case proceeds.
Former probationary workers from various agencies, including the Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services, the IRS, and the General Services Administration, told Reuters they had received emails informing them of their reinstatement with full pay, but were placed on administrative leave.
One former worker from the GSA said he was still expecting to be fired eventually but viewed the reinstatement as a temporary reprieve, allowing him to retain health insurance while searching for new opportunities.
Before Bredar issued his March 13 ruling, US District Judge William Alsup in San Francisco ordered the reinstatement of probationary workers at six agencies, including those covered by Bredar’s order and the Department of Defense. The administration has also appealed this decision.
Judge Alsup criticized the administration for placing workers on administrative leave instead of returning them to work, stating that this did not comply with his order to reinstate them and would not restore the government services intended by the ruling.
In response, the Department of Justice stated that placing workers on leave was the first step toward full reinstatement, clarifying that administrative leave was not being used to circumvent the reinstatement requirement.
In the filings in Baltimore, agency officials stated that they were either reinstating all the fired employees or were working to do so. However, they noted that bringing back large numbers of workers has created confusion and disruptions.
Officials also mentioned that a ruling from an appeals court reversing Bredar’s order would allow agencies to fire the workers again, leading to further changes in their employment status within a matter of weeks.
“The tremendous uncertainty associated with this confusion and these administrative burdens impede supervisors from appropriately managing their workforce,” stated Mark Green, Deputy Assistant Secretary at the US Department of the Interior.
Bredar has scheduled a hearing for March 26 to determine whether to maintain his ruling while the lawsuit is ongoing, a process which could take months or longer.
