BALTIMORE — An appeals court on Wednesday cleared the way for President Donald Trump to carry out mass firings of probationary workers at 20 federal agencies.
Earlier this month James Bredar, a federal district court judge in Maryland appointed by former President Barack Obama, ordered the Trump Administration to rehire previously terminated employees in 19 states, including Maryland and Washington D.C.
The initial ruling from Bredar came in response to a lawsuit filed by Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown, on behalf of the states.
According to Bredar, the firings were unlawful because Trump and company failed to provide affected workers advance written notice.
Brown argued Maryland received 813 unemployment claims from fired federal workers between January 21 and March 3.
Around that time, another federal judge in California, appointed by former President Bill Clinton, made a similar ruling ordering the reinstatement of fired workers at six government agencies, some which overlapped Bredar's decision.
However, the California case was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, leading the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals to follow suit.
"The Government is likely to succeed in showing the district court lacked jurisdiction over Plaintiffs’ claims, and the Government is unlikely to recover the funds disbursed to reinstated probationary employees," the 2-1 majority wrote. The appellate panel was made up of Trump appointed judge Allison Jones Rushing, and Reagan appointee Harvey Wilkinson. Judge DeAndrea Gist Benjamin, a Joe Biden appointee dissented.
The states responded by requesting an emergency stay, while seeking en banc review from the entire Fourth Circuit.
For now, while litigation continues, the job status of thousands of federal workers appears in danger once again.
Maryland is home to the fourth highest number of federal employees in the nation, behind California, Texas and Virginia.
Trump has long promised wide-spread cuts to the federal workforce to shrink what he considers government bloat and overspending.
The President and his allies have heavily criticized district level judges attempting to block the White House's agenda, often times questioning court authority over the Executive Branch.
Both Appeals Courts and the Supreme Court recently ruled in favor of Trump on a series of thorny issues including federal funding freezes over Diversity Equity and Inclusion, and deportations of alleged undocumented migrant gang members under the Alien Enemies Act.
