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Judge who ordered fired federal workers to be reinstated now says ruling applies to 19 states and DC

The Associated Press
April 2, 2025, 11:47 AM

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — A federal judge who had ordered the Trump administration to reinstate fired federal probationary employees across the country at more than a dozen agencies has narrowed the scope of his ruling so it now applies to workers in the 19 states and the District of Columbia that challenged the mass dismissals.

U.S. District Judge James Bredar in Baltimore issued a preliminary injunction Tuesday night that protects those workers while the lawsuit continues. ... “Only states have sued here, and only to vindicate their interests as states,” Bredar wrote. “They are not proxies for the workers.”

The order requires the 18 agencies originally named in the lawsuit to follow the law in conducting any future reductions in force. Bredar has now added the Defense Department and the Office of Personnel Management to that number.

Bredar previously found that the firings amount to a large-scale reduction subject to specific rules, including giving advance notice to states affected by the layoffs.

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