The Supreme Court delivered a major victory to the Trump administration on Tuesday, clearing the way for it to move forward with the dismissal of thousands of federal workers.
In a 7-2 decision, the high court blocked a lower court ruling that would have forced the administration to rehire over 16,000 probationary employees who were previously terminated across six federal agencies.
The decision halts a controversial order from U.S. District Judge William Alsup, a Clinton appointee, who had demanded that the Departments of Defense, Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Energy, Interior, and Treasury offer jobs back to those fired.
The Trump administration had asked the justices in March to intervene, arguing that allowing one judge to micromanage executive personnel decisions was a dangerous overreach.
Acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris called the lower court’s order a threat to the constitutional structure of government. “That is no way to run a government,” she wrote in her request to the Court. “This Court should stop the ongoing assault on the constitutional structure before further damage is wrought.”
The justices agreed, granting the administration’s emergency request and criticizing the legal standing of the nonprofit groups behind the lawsuit. These groups had argued that the firings disrupted their ability to conduct business with the federal government. But the Supreme Court found that their claims were insufficient for legal standing under existing law.
Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented, saying they would have allowed the lower court’s ruling to remain in effect.
Jackson questioned whether the administration had demonstrated enough urgency for emergency relief.
The workers affected by the ruling are currently on paid administrative leave, and the case will continue through the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Meanwhile, a separate injunction out of Maryland — issued by an Obama-appointed judge — remains active in 19 states and the District of Columbia. That case focuses on the administration’s alleged failure to provide states with required advance notice before large-scale terminations.
While some progressive groups have decried the firings as politically motivated and claimed tens of thousands of public servants were let go to “cripple federal agencies,” no individual employees were part of the lawsuit. Instead, the challenge was brought by public sector unions and left-leaning nonprofits.
Judge Alsup, who previously labeled the firings a “sham,” also claimed the Office of Personnel Management misled the public about performance-based terminations. “It is sad, a sad day when our government would fire some good employee and say it was based on performance when they know good and well that’s a lie,” he wrote in his original ruling.
But for now, the Supreme Court has signaled that the executive branch — not unelected judges — has the final say on managing federal personnel.
This ruling marks a clear win for the Trump administration and strengthens its hand in reshaping the federal workforce. More importantly, it sends a message that bureaucratic overreach by activist judges won’t go unchecked.