Democratic state attorneys general in Washington, D.C., and 19 states sued the Trump administration late Thursday over its efforts to carry out mass firings of federal workers.
The attorneys general seek a court order reinstating fired probationary employees, meaning those who were either hired or promoted within the past year or two and have fewer job protections than other federal workers.
“These large-scale, indiscriminate firings are not only subjecting the Plaintiff States and communities across the country to chaos. They are also against the law,” the lawsuit states.
Filed in federal court in Baltimore, the Maryland-led suit claims the administration didn’t follow “reduction in force” procedures mandated under federal regulations, like providing 60 days’ notice.
The firings come as part of the Trump administration’s broader efforts to rapidly reshape and dismantle parts of the federal bureaucracy, largely through the Department of Government Efficiency.
The states’ lawsuit was assigned to U.S. District Judge Adam Abelson, an appointee of former President Biden.
It adds to three existing cases challenging the probationary employee firings.
After a group of government employee unions secured an initial victory in their suit, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) this week walked back its original memo instructing agencies to pull together lists of their probationary employees.
OPM now indicates it’s up to each agency whether to boot their hires.
“This campaign has inflicted immense harms on tens of thousands of probationary employees and their families,” the lawsuit states.
“It has rendered them jobless without providing any advance notice that might have given them an opportunity to seek other employment or even budget to prepare for the loss of income,” it continued. “As a result, many affected employees and their families are struggling to make ends meet — to pay rent, buy groceries, and care for their loved ones.”
