Thousands of federal employees are on a roller coaster of being fired, rehired

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: USA Today

May 18, 2025, 5:03 a.m. ET


In recent months, tens of thousands of federal workers have been fired, rehired and threatened with firing again. For now, they have a two-week reprieve, after a federal judge in California ordered the Trump administration not to carry out any additional firings for two weeks, but the administration has asked the Supreme Court to overturn that ruling. But employees describe weeks of uncertainty, worry and doubt as their jobs are off, then on, then off again. "This entire chaos-causing situation has been inefficiency in the name of efficiency," said one federal employee who received a reduction in force notification, who asked not to be identified for fear of retribution. "I was RIF'd then told I'm not. It makes it very hard to know what to believe and makes it incredibly difficult to trust your employer."

Thousands of probationary workers were fired in February. In response to a series of court rulings, the employees were rehired, then fired again. Separately, thousands of employees departed under a voluntary program known as the "fork in the road." Then in April and May thousands more left under incentive-based programs to leave or retire early. Some of those who chose to leave in that third round had their requests rejected. "Emotionally this has been draining on me and my family and has impacted every facet of our lives," the federal employee told USA TODAY. "It increases your stress, ruins your work life balance, and really strains your home life."

U.S. District Court Judge Susan Illston issued a temporary restraining order on May 9 against the government's planned reductions in force in a case in the Northern District of California. President Donald Trump and the offices driving the budget and personnel reductions likely exceeded their authority, Illston wrote. Her order blocked any action on the planned terminations of more than 100,000 employees at 21 agencies and departments until May 23. However, on May 16, after a flurry of back and forths with the court, the Trump administrative appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Illston's restraining order.

The order addressed concerns laid out among 1,000 pages of evidence presented in a lawsuit filed by the American Federation of Government Employees and two dozen other plaintiffs, including other union locals, nonprofits and local governments. The president may have the ability to pursue new policy priorities but can’t make large-scale changes to an agency without Congress, “its co-equal branch and partner,” the order stated. It added: “Unchecked presidential power is not what the Framers had in mind."

Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/05/18/federal-employees-fired-rehired-await-court-decision/83600693007/