U.S. District Judge James Bredar's order applies to 12 departments and several agencies that fired probationary workers during the Trump administration.

Summary

A second federal judge ordered the Trump administration to reinstate thousands of probationary (new) federal employees fired in mass layoffs.

U.S. District Judge James Bredar ruled that the administration falsely claimed the dismissals were based on individual performance when no assessments were made. His order affects 12 federal departments and agencies, following a similar ruling in California.

The Justice Department plans to appeal. The layoffs impacted about 200,000 workers since January.

Democratic attorneys general argued the terminations violated protocol, while the White House has not commented.