The Trump administration can reduce the size of the federal workforce, but it has to follow the rules while it's doing so, according to retired Judge Andrew Napolitano on Newsmax on Friday.
"There's a federal statute that the government has to [use] when it wants to reduce its force to give people time to find new jobs," Napolitano said on Newsmax's "Wake Up America." "That statute says give them 45-days notice."
Federal Judge William Alsup, while ordering the administration to reinstate workers in the Treasury, Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Defense, Energy, and Interior departments, said the administration's claims of laying off workers based on "poor performance" was instead "a sham in order to try to avoid statutory requirements."
Napolitano agreed that the thousands of workers who were let go were told they were being fired for performance reasons, but "there were not performance reviews."
"They were fired because of a reduction in force," said Napolitano. "This judge basically said, you can fire whoever you want as long as you give them 45-days notice. If you're firing them for cause, you've got to state the cause."
But he said he doesn't expect the judge's ruling to be appealed because by the time the court got the case, the 45 days would be over.
"Both judges were ruling the same way," said Napolitano. "The Trump administration can reduce the size, but it's got to follow the rules in doing so."
The Trump administration also plans to appeal a judge's ruling against the president's call for a birthright citizenship ban, but Napolitano said the Supreme Court's case would focus on the rights of judges to make rulings that affect all states, not just the ones where they are located.
"The Trump administration very interestingly said we're being sued by 22 states … 'so let us do our thing'" in the other states, said Napolitano.
He added it would be "very unusual" for the Constitution to mean one thing in half of the states and something else in the other, "so I don't think the court will go along with this."
"I praise the DOJ for making novel arguments that make the court scratch its head and think," he added.
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