A federal judge ordered the Office of Personnel Management to rescind illegal instructions given to federal agencies to determine whether employees should be retained, which resulted in termination of probationary workers. The judge ruled the instructions were invalid and OPM lacked authority to hire or fire employees in other agencies. An attorney argued that probationary employees have rights before termination and OPM’s actions were unlawful. The judge questioned whether the firing orders were requests or orders, suggesting they seemed coordinated across agencies. The ruling was seen as a victory by the American Federation of Government Employees and the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees, who are working to protect federal workers against unjust terminations. The exact number of affected employees was unclear, but hundreds of thousands could have been impacted. The ruling has given federal employees a temporary respite, but the fight to protect civil service workers will continue until the unjust terminations are stopped. The Office of Personnel Management did not immediately respond to the ruling. The judge also ordered a hearing with the OPM director to further address the issue. This ruling is seen as an important step towards protecting federal workers against baseless and damaging terminations.
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