Legal Challenges to Federal Terminations
A Baltimore federal judge has directed the Trump administration to temporarily reinstate probationary federal employees who were terminated during President Trump’s efforts to reduce the federal workforce. The judge ruled that all federal departments must reinstate these employees by Monday, citing issues with how the mass terminations were executed.
This ruling follows a similar decision from a San Francisco federal judge who found that terminations across six agencies were improperly overseen by Charles Ezell, acting director of the Office of Personnel Management, who lacked proper authority to issue the firings. The San Francisco ruling specifically instructs the Departments of Veterans Affairs, Defense, Energy, Agriculture, Treasury, and Interior to reinstate employees terminated in mid-February. The Trump administration appealed, but the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the ruling.
Scale of Job Cuts
The Maryland lawsuit alleges that more than 24,000 probationary employees have been terminated since Trump took office, though the government has not confirmed this figure. The lawsuit listed 16 agencies, including the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
HHS alone lost approximately 5,200 probationary employees during the first round of February firings, according to an audio recording from a National Institutes of Health department meeting. These cuts occurred just one day after Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was sworn in to oversee HHS.
DOGE Task Force Initiatives
These workforce reductions are part of efforts by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) task force, headed by billionaire Elon Musk, to reduce government spending. According to Politico, additional terminations may soon affect several health-related agencies, including:
- Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) for Health Information Technology
- Health Resources and Services Administration
- Administration for Children and Families
- Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
Reports suggest the ONC could be reduced from 180 to just 30 employees and incorporated into the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Broader Healthcare Impact
The workforce reductions coincide with other significant changes to healthcare programs. In mid-February, CMS announced dramatic cuts to the Affordable Care Act Navigator Program, reducing funding from $98 million in 2024 to just $10 million. This substantially impacts both compensation and jobs for those who help consumers select ACA plans. Similar funding cuts occurred during Trump’s first administration.
Earlier in February, a federal judge ordered HHS, the CDC, and the FDA to restore access to web pages that had been removed in compliance with a Trump executive order.
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