A federal judge in California has halted the Trump administration’s effort to lay off thousands of recently hired federal employees, ruling that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) lacks the authority to mandate mass dismissals.
At a hearing on February 27, District Judge William Alsup criticized the OPM for pressuring agencies to terminate employees with less than a year of service. His ruling prevents the agency from enforcing its directive to identify and cut non-“critical” workers.
The layoffs were part of a broader initiative led by Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk, whom Trump appointed to oversee the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), aiming to reduce the federal workforce. However, Trump’s team argues that they only requested a “workforce analysis” rather than directly ordering dismissals.
While the ruling blocks the OPM’s directive, the judge acknowledged that individual agencies, such as the Pentagon, retain the authority to make their own staffing decisions.
