Mass firings temporarily blocked in US

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge on Thursday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from ordering the US Department of Defense and other federal agencies to carry out the mass firings of recently hired employees.

US District Judge William Alsup in San Francisco said during a hearing that the US Office of Personnel Management, or OPM, lacked the power to order federal agencies to fire any workers, including probationary employees who typically have less than a year of experience.

President Donald Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk, who oversees the Department of Government Efficiency, are spearheading an unprecedented effort to shrink the federal bureaucracy, including through job cuts.

Those efforts have resulted in a fierce pushback from Democrats, unions and federal workers, who argue the job cuts are illegal and could compromise government functions.

Already, the administration has been forced to recall some personnel in critical roles. But Trump has backed Musk to the hilt and has embraced Musk's goal of slicing $1 trillion from the nation's $6.7 trillion budget.

Budget experts say Musk, the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, is unlikely to reach his target by trimming jobs and reducing waste and fraud, and may have to slash government programs, including benefits.

On Thursday, hundreds of probationary workers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which conducts climate science, were notified that they were being let go, according to a source familiar with the situation.

Meanwhile, OPM, the federal human resources agency, has instructed at least two dozen of its own employees working remotely that they must relocate to Washington in order to keep their jobs. They were given until March 7 to decide.

In his ruling, Alsup ordered OPM to rescind a Jan 20 memo and a Feb 14 email directing agencies to identify probationary employees who are not "mission-critical" and terminate them.

Alsup said he could not order the Defense Department itself, which is expected to fire 5,400 probationary employees on Friday, and other agencies not to terminate workers because they are not defendants in the lawsuit brought by several unions and nonprofit groups.

But he suggested that the mass firings of federal workers that began two weeks ago would cause widespread harm, including cuts to national parks, scientific research, and services for veterans.

"Probationary employees are the lifeblood of our government. They come in at a low level and work their way up. That's how we renew ourselves," said Alsup, an appointee of Democratic former president Bill Clinton.

The plaintiffs include the largest federal employee union, the American Federation of Government Employees, four other unions and nonprofits whose missions include advocating for services for veterans and conservation of national parks.

'Reckless' decision

Five former US defense secretaries on Thursday addressed a letter to lawmakers denouncing as "reckless" the recent firings of senior Pentagon officials by Trump.

The US Defense Department — the largest employer in the country — said last week it would soon start cutting its civilian workforce by at least 5 percent.

Democrats have accused Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth of seeking to politicize the military and ensure it is led by people personally loyal to the president.

In the letter, the ex-defense secretaries, who served under both Republican and Democratic administrations, added their voices to the condemnation, saying they were "deeply alarmed" by the firings.

"We write to urge the US Congress to hold Mr Trump to account for these reckless actions and to exercise fully its Constitutional oversight responsibilities," the letter said.

The United States teeters on the brink of a constitutional crisis as the Trump administration is faced with a series of court setbacks.

"If a judge tried to tell a general how to conduct a military operation, that would be illegal," Vice-President JD Vance posted on X.

Trump has said he will abide by court rulings and appeal those he disagrees with, but he also recently posted on Truth Social a quote attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte:"He who saves his Country does not violate any Law."

Agencies Via Xinhua