The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed the Trump administration’s firing of 16,000 probationary federal employees go forward, at least for now.
In an unsigned opinion and without reaching the question of whether the terminations themselves were lawful, the court said that the nonprofits that brought the case did not have legal standing to sue over federal employees’ firings.
The vote was 7 to 2. Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson would have kept the firings paused while the case plays out in the lower courts.
The court’s narrow ruling applies only to the nonprofits in Tuesday’s lawsuit, and it did not decide on the case as a whole. Nonetheless, the court’s decision makes it more difficult for groups affected by government layoffs to challenge mass firings systematically.
In that sense, the court’s action is a victory for the Trump administration and its effort to dramatically shrink federal agencies and programs, concentrating executive power in the White House.
Probationary employees dismissed
Following an executive order signed by President Trump on February 11, The Office of Personnel Management told agencies to terminate all but essential probationary employees. Probationary employees are typically recent agency hires or tenured employees serving in new roles.
Various agencies promptly began firing employees, ultimately totaling tens of thousands. Federal workers’ unions and a group of nonprofit organizations sued the Office of Personnel Management and several agencies, including the Departments of Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Defense, Energy, Interior and Treasury, to halt the firings.
Those challenging the dismissals argued that OPM doesn’t have the authority to order firings. They also argued that the federal…
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