US President Donald Trump has ordered the mass re-hiring of around 25,000 previously fired federal workers, as two judges rule that the actions of Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) were 'illegal'.
Elon Musk's new role as head of DOGE has been highly controversial in the private agency's first few months, as his team have torn through almost every government department in order to enact significant spending cuts.
Musk and his team have threatened the jobs of 100,000 employees in a widespread email, reduced entire departments to just one employee, and even put the country's national security at risk due to cuts in the Energy Department's (DOE) nuclear weapon division.
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They've already had to walk back a number of cuts after claiming they were 'accidental', re-hiring the aforementioned DOE workers and 'restoring' key Ebola prevention initiatives that are apparently still not enough according to one former USAID lead.
While one judge has ruled DOGE's targeted cuts in USAID to be 'unconstitutional', two other judges have issued a major order for President Trump to rehire around 25,000 workers that were previously fired by Musk's department, calling the process 'illegal'.
As reported by the BBC, Judges James Bredar of Maryland and William Alsup of California have ordered the rehiring of probational workers in departments such as Agriculture, Health and Human Services, and the Treasury, among many others.
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Judge Bredar in particular took issue not with the firing in isolation, but in the manner it was carried out, highlighted also in a lawsuit brought forward by 19 Democratic-led states which points towards the pressure on social services following mass redundancies.
The Trump administration has somewhat complied with these rulings as employees have been technically rehired, although they are now currently being placed on administrative leave, which Judge Alsup has criticized.
Judge Alsup has outlined that this process "would not restore the services the preliminary injunction intends to restore," but the Department of Justice (DOJ) claims that this is simply just the first step that they're taking to fully reinstate all previously fired workers.
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The DOJ has also appealed both court rulings, taking issue with the denial of DOGE initiatives.
While President Trump has previously indicated the limits of Elon Musk and DOGE's power within his administration, favoring the 'scalpel' over the 'hatchet' when it comes to spending cuts, these new court rulings also place significant hurdles in the way of DOGE that could be challenging to navigate in the near future if appeals are denied.