A federal appeals court ruled Monday that 19 mostly Democrat-led states lack standing to challenge President Donald Trump's decision to fire nearly 25,000 probationary government workers.
In a 2-1 ruling, the Richmond, Virginia-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals returned a preliminary injunction to a lower court with orders to dismiss.
The ruling said the Trump administration does not need to rehire employees who live and work in 19 states and the District of Columbia. The order applies to dismissed employees in probationary status, meaning they're new to their jobs.
"We acknowledge that the abrupt and indiscriminate dismissal of the probationary employees here exacted all-too-human costs upon those affected. But this real impact on the employees, who are not parties here, cannot govern our review. Instead, we are required to answer a narrower question concerning the plaintiffs in this case: whether a group of states may invoke the jurisdiction of a federal district court to oversee the federal government's compliance with federal employment laws governing the termination of federal employees," the judges wrote in their ruling.
"The relief requested here is wholly out of proportion to the injury alleged. To hold that standing exists would upset, indeed revolutionize, the balance inherent in dual sovereignty, one in which reciprocal respect must be accorded by one sovereign to the paramount interests of another. We must hold, as the Supreme Court's decisions plainly dictate, that these plaintiffs lacked standing to seek the relief that they did. We therefore vacate the judgment below and remand with directions to the district court to dismiss the action."
The ruling marked the Trump administration's latest court victory in its efforts to shrink the federal workforce, including by cutting probationary employees. They typically have less than a year of service in their current roles, though some are longtime federal workers in new jobs.
A federal judge in Baltimore had ordered 18 agencies to reinstate more than 24,000 probationary workers nationwide before narrowing the order to cover only those in the suing states. The 4th Circuit panel in April put that decision on hold, letting the firings proceed, and on Monday overturned the injunction.
The states alleged the administration violated a federal law requiring agencies to give state and local governments 60 days' notice before implementing mass layoffs, which would trigger a flood of unemployment claims.
U.S. Circuit Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson said while many people view the terminations as "harsh," others see them as warranted to trim the "bloat of the federal bureaucracy."
"This clash of views must ultimately be resolved by the voters," Wilkinson, an appointee of President Ronald Reagan, wrote in an opinion joined by Circuit Judge Allison Jones Rushing.
Circuit Judge DeAndrea Benjamin dissented, saying she "will not endorse the Government's attempt to circumvent our Nation's laws."
The agencies at issue included the departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Labor, Transportation, Treasury, and Veterans Affairs.
The White House and states did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The Supreme Court in April paused a separate ruling by a judge in San Francisco requiring six agencies to reinstate nearly 17,000 probationary workers, pending the Trump administration's appeal.
Reuters contributed to this story.
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.