Dear John,

Yesterday, February 27, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, presided over by Judge William H. Alsup, granted a temporary restraining order against the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and its Acting Director, Charles Ezell, finding that OPM’s direction to terminate probationary federal employees was illegal because OPM had no authority to order it. Judge Alsup said that when federal agencies fire employees for no reason, “that’s just not right in our country,” adding that we can’t “run our agencies with lies.” “The Office of Personnel Management does not have any authority whatsoever under any statute in the history of the universe to hire and fire employees at another agency,” he stated. He also called probationary employees "the lifeblood of our government."

The judge ordered OPM to immediately notify federal agencies of the ruling, including the Department of Defense, which is poised to terminate thousands of probationary employees today, February 28. Judge Alsup further ordered the federal government to disclose by Tuesday, March 4, the participants on the February 13 call that has been widely reported to have been the occasion when OPM ordered the agencies to terminate probationary employees. He indicated that a longer written order would follow shortly on the heels of yesterday’s ruling from the bench.

“This ruling by Judge Alsup is an important initial victory for patriotic Americans across this country who were illegally fired from their jobs by an agency that had no authority to do so,” said AFGE National President Everett Kelley in a statement. “These are rank-and-file workers who joined the federal government to make a difference in their communities, only to be suddenly terminated due to this administration’s disdain for federal employees and desire to privatize their work. OPM’s direction to agencies to engage in the indiscriminate firing of federal probationary employees is illegal, plain and simple, and our union will keep fighting until we put a stop to these demoralizing and damaging attacks on our civil service once and for all.”

AFGE will always stand up for our members and well are pleased with this initial victory for probationary employees nationwide. There is power in a union, and when we stand together, we win.

We will follow up with guidance and frequently asked questions in the coming days.

In Solidarity,

AFGE

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