Judge Calls DOGE Firings a ‘Sham,’ Orders Thousands of Workers to Be Reinstated ‘Immediately’

A federal judge has dealt a blow to Elon Musk’s DOGE agenda. On Thursday, Judge William Alsup of San Francisco said that the firing of tens of thousands of federal probationary workers had been based on a “lie” and that the government had conducted the expulsions illegally—further calling the initiative a “sham.” Alsup ordered that the workers be reinstated immediately. Probationary workers—that is, workers who are new to the workforce and haven’t received more advanced benefits and protections—have suffered massive cuts across the government, as DOGE and the Trump administration have attempted to greatly reduce the federal workforce. The case before Alsup concerns litigation brought by union groups representing those workers. Alsup’s reinstatement order applies to thousands of federal workers fired from the Defense Department, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Energy, the Treasury Department, and the Department of the Interior. Gove ... Read full article.