Federal Judge Orders Reinstatement of Thousands of Wrongfully Fired U.S. Government Employees

The court ruled that the dismissals, initiated under Trump and linked to Elon Musk's efficiency initiative, violated federal laws.

A federal judge in San Francisco has mandated the reinstatement of thousands of U.S. government employees who were unlawfully terminated during their probationary periods.
The judge found that the stated reason for the terminations, poor performance, was a pretext to bypass federal legal protections for employees.
The ruling affects employees from multiple federal departments, including Defense, Agriculture, Energy, Interior, and Veterans Affairs.
The dismissals were part of a broader cost-cutting initiative led by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, implemented under former President Donald Trump.
The court also prohibited further guidance on such terminations and ordered the removal of Noah Peters, a key advisor in the initiative.