Research & Developments is a blog for brief updates that provide context for the flurry of news regarding law and policy changes that impact science and scientists today.
Today, a federal judge in San Francisco ordered the Trump administration to offer reinstatement to all probationary employees previously fired from the departments of Agriculture, Defense, Energy, Interior, Treasury and Veterans Affairs. The ruling could reinstate thousands of federal employees, including scientists, who were fired by directives from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM).
At least 30,000 probationary federal employees have been fired. Judge William Alsup ruled that OPM had no legal authority to direct the mass firings of federal employees via emails or phone calls as it did in February; downsizing the federal workforce, he explained, must be done through reductions in force. The judge, who last month issued a temporary restraining order against OPM firings that called them “unlawful” and “invalid,” berated a Justice Department attorney for obstructing the evidence-gathering process and submitting “sham” documents. The acting director of OPM, Charles Ezell, defied a judge’s order to testify in court.
AGU, which publishes Eos, is a co-plaintiff on this case. After the ruling, AGU’s Interim Executive Director and CEO Janice R. Lachance said, “AGU is very encouraged by today’s ruling in the Northern District of California. The judge’s decision that the Office of Personnel Management made an unlawful decision to terminate federal workers is a welcome one, and we were proud to sign on as a plaintiff in the case. But things are far from over, and we will continue to support you and protect the greater scientific enterprise for the growth, stability, and health of our world. Your fight is our fight.”
Judge Alsup ordered that OPM prove within seven days that it had offered reinstatement to all fired probationary employees. The ruling states that reductions in force currently underway or anticipated at other agencies are still legal.
—Kimberly M. S. Cartier (@astrokimcartier.bsky.social), Staff Writer
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