Labor unions are asking a federal judge in San Francisco on Thursday for an emergency injunction blocking the mass firings of probationary federal employees by President Donald Trump’s administration, saying officials not only lack the authority to order terminations but that notices to workers were premised on a lie of poor job performance.
On the other side, attorneys for the U.S. Office of Personnel Management will argue before U.S. District Judge William Alsup that the office did not create a “mass termination program” as plaintiffs say, but asked agencies to review and determine whether employees on probation were fit for continued employment.
Congress has determined that each agency is responsible for managing its employees and the Office of Personnel Management, which serves as a human resources department for the federal government, lacks the authority to terminate workers in the way that it did, according to the lawsuit.
“Agencies were responsible for deciding which probationary employees to keep and to terminate,” said Charles Ezell, acting director of the personnel office in a declaration filed with the court, adding that a determination of fitness must “take into account the existing needs and interests of government.".
Elon Musk has led the purge through the newly created Department of Government Efficiency, roiling the workforce with demands including a Saturday email sent through the personnel office ordering workers to list five things they did last week or risk getting fired.
