Staying an injunction entered by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, the U.S. Supreme Court permitted the firing of approximately 16,000 probationary federal employees for now in a 7-2 order issued April 8.
The Supreme Court’s order, which allows the Trump administration to implement the terminations while litigation proceeds, does not mean the terminations were lawful. The high court did not address that issue, staying the injunction on technical grounds.
In OPM v. AFGE, the high court said the nine nonprofit organization plaintiffs in the case did not show they had standing to bring suit. “Standing” refers to the legal right of a party to bring a case before a court, requiring a concrete, personal injury or harm.
The brief order did not address the merits of the case. Other plaintiffs challenging the terminations may be more successful.
A similar challenge has been brought in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, where 19 states and the District of Columbia sued to reinstate federal probationary workers. On April 1, they won a limited preliminary injunction while that lawsuit continues.
The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), other labor unions, and the nine nonprofits on Feb. 19 sued the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) for its role in the firings. On March 13, the judge in California ordered the Trump administration to offer the probationary employees...
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