Left: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a joint press conference with Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer in the East Room at the White House Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025, in Washington (Carl Court/Pool Photo via AP). Right: U.S. District Judge William Alsup (Northern District of California).
A federal judge on Thursday tore into the Trump administration for its “unlawful” firing of tens of thousands of probationary employees over the past month and a half, calling it a “sad day” when the government would terminate “good” workers supposedly on the basis of performance — knowing “good and well that’s a lie,” the judge said as he ordered agencies to “immediately” rehire those who have been booted.
“That should not have been done in our country,” U.S. District Judge William Alsup said Thursday in an order from the bench in the mass firings case against the Office of Personnel and Management that was filed in California. As Law&Crime previously reported, Alsup issued a restraining order in late February against the Trump administration over the firings, calling them “illegal.”
“It was a sham in order to try to avoid statutory requirements,” Alsup said, blasting the DOJ attorneys in court. “The reason that OPM wanted to put this based on performance was at least in part, in my judgment, a gimmick to avoid the Reductions in Force Act, because the law always allows you to fire somebody for performance.”
Acting OPM director Charles Ezell, who was appointed by Trump after he took office in January, is being sued for firing thousands of government workers still in the probationary period of their employment. Alsup had ordered Ezell to appear in court Thursday to testify after Justice Department lawyers filed a declaration from him in the case. The plaintiffs suing the OPM — five labor unions and five nonprofit organizations — said in court filings last week that they believed DOJ’s Civil Division was not going to let Ezell take the stand, which is exactly what happened.
The Trump administration on Tuesday informed Alsup that Ezell intended to defy his order and the DOJ was withdrawing his declaration from the case. The judge repeatedly called it an attempt to “stonewall” him while handing down his TRO ruling.
“I would like to see some depositions taken … but you Stonewall me on it,” Alsup said, with the Bill Clinton appointee going so far as to dare the DOJ to file an appeal in the case. “I want you to because I’m tired of seeing you stonewall,” Alsup told the DOJ.
Alsup said he believed the Trump administration was not being truthful about who directed the firings and who was specifically responsible for carrying them out, with the plaintiffs pointing to Ezell and OPM, while the DOJ insists it was individual agencies doing the axing.
“You will not bring the people in here to be cross-examined,” Alsup said. “You’re afraid to do so because you know cross-examination would reveal the truth.”
Ezell and OPM maintain that they simply told agencies to review their probationary workers and make determinations about whether to continue their employment based on need and did not order the firings themselves. Alsup urged the DOJ to put Ezell or other officials forward for testimony to help prove it.
“I want somebody to go under oath and tell us what happened,” he said.
Love true crime? Sign up for our newsletter, The Law&Crime Docket, to get the latest real-life crime stories delivered right to your inbox.
