USDA ordered to reinstate nearly 6,000 fired probationary workers
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The U.S. Department of Agriculture must reinstate 5,900 fired employees for at least 45 days, per an order issued Wednesday by the Merit Systems Protection Board, an agency that handles federal worker complaints.
Why it matters: The Trump administration's mass firing of thousands of probationary federal workers has hit a series of legal speed bumps.
Zoom in: These firings were likely unlawful, the board ruled. Probationary workers can only be terminated if their performance or conduct demonstrates they're unfit for their jobs.
- Though probationary workers were told, via email, they were being fired for poor performance, there was no explanation given or details.
- There are "reasonable grounds to believe that the agency terminated probationary employees not to eliminate poor performers, but instead as part of a reorganization," per the order.
- There are standard procedures agencies must take under such reorganizations, known as reductions in force.
Zoom out: About 30,000 probationary federal workers have been fired by agencies since mid-February, under apparent order from the Office of Personnel Management and the White House.
- Last week a federal judge ruled that the firings appear to be illegal and ordered certain agencies to rehire them.
- So far, that's not happened in any widespread way.
The intrigue: The White House and OPM are now saying that hirings and firings are entirely up to the agencies themselves, with OPM arguing in court — despite allegations to the contrary — that it never ordered such culling in the first place.
