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Two federal judges have ordered that all Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) probationary workers recently terminated under an Office of Personnel Management (OPM) staffing directive be reinstated..
Recent weeks had seen a pair of announcements from the VA that roughly 2,400 probationary employees had been dismissed, though reports had circulated that some workers had been called back.
Probationary employees such as these are easier for the government to legally dismiss without violating civil service protections. They have emerged as initial targets of White House, Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) efforts to reduce “the size and scope of the federal workforce.”
Thursday, Judge William Alsup, of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, granted a preliminary order that expands a temporary restraining order against OPM, which the judge found ordered the cuts outside of its authority and the process laid out in law for reducing the government's headcount. The administration argued against OPM's role in the terminations, per reports of the Thursday hearing, though internal letters and memos undercut that defense.
Alsup had stern words for the administration, criticizing resistance from its legal team toward bringing in officials for cross-examination and its framing the terminations as a result of employees' poor performances. Alongside the reinstatements, he ordered OPM not to give any guidance to federal agencies on employee terminations and to report on its compliance.
The VA is one of six federal agencies that were ordered by Alsup to bring back their terminated probationary employees. The department had said its cuts would help redirect millions of dollars toward veteran healthcare and benefits.
Later that evening, Judge James Bredar, of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, filed his own temporary restraining order against the administration that expanded the probationary employee reinstatements to 18 agencies, including the VA and the Department of Health and Human Services, which had seen thousands of probationary firings of its own.
Bredar's order also bars the administration from any reductions in force, "whether formally labeled as such or not," that do not follow the the notice requirements outlined in statute.
Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), one of the former case's plaintiffs, said the group "is pleased with Judge Alsup’s order to immediately reinstate tens of thousands of probationary federal employees who were illegally fired from their jobs by an administration hellbent on crippling federal agencies and their work on behalf of the American public. We are grateful for these employees and the critical work they do, and AFGE will keep fighting until all federal employees who were unjustly and illegally fired are given their jobs back.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, in a statement, criticized Alsup's decision and said that the administration will be pushing back on the order.
"A single judge is attempting to unconstitutionally seize the power of hiring and firing from the Executive Branch," she said. "The President has the authority to exercise the power of the entire executive branch—singular district court judges cannot abuse the power of the entire judiciary to thwart the President’s agenda. If a federal district court judge would like executive powers, they can try and run for President themselves. The Trump Administration will immediately fight back against this absurd and unconstitutional order."
Thursday was also the deadline for government agencies to develop reduction in force memos that would affect a broader swath of the federal workforce later this year.
VA plans more than 80,000 job cuts
Separately, a March 4 internal memo from VA Chief of Staff Christopher Syrek outlined plans for an "aggressive" reorganization requiring over 80,000 job cuts in a bid to return to 2019 staffing levels.
The VA's November’s FY2024 Agency Financial Report cited a total of over 473,000 workers, with nearly 30% of those being veterans themselves. The leaked memo reportedly targets a head count below 400,000, undoing a Biden-era hiring push fueled by veterans newly eligible for benefits under 2022's PACT Act.
The memo outlines August for the reorganization and calls for agency officials to work with the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to achieve the administration's goal of a thinner federal government.
"These cuts won’t just impact those seeking healthcare," Rep. Mark Takano, D-California and ranking member on the Veterans' Affairs Committee, wrote on social media of the reported reorganization. "They will create chaos across every aspect of VA—delaying benefits, straining claims processing, and making it nearly impossible for student veterans and schools to get the assistance they need. Veterans will suffer the consequences."
On Tuesday—ahead of the memo reports and President Donald Trump's evening address—Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut, ranking member of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, attempted to pass a resolution condemning the cuts and reinstating the positions of the VA's probationary workers.
"I know my colleagues are hearing from their constituents about the mental health services that are delayed, about the surgeries that can't be provided, about the Veterans Crisis Line, serving veterans who may be taking their own lives, all reduced," the senator said. "These real-life impacts are undeniable, and we're talking about the people who make sure that veterans have transportation to those appointments, who assist with benefits claims, who ensure that the VA hospitals are maintained, and that they are safe, who clean operating rooms and sterilize instruments in between procedures."
Republican lawmakers have largely supported efforts to trim the federal workforce, including through raucous applause of the president's Tuesday night speech. But that position isn't uniform across the party—Tom Barrett, R-Michigan, who chairs the House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Technology Modernization, penned a letter to VA Secretary Doug Collins voicing "concern" about the department's workforce reductions and urging a closer look at who is being cut.
"I respectfully ask you to review your agency's process to guarantee only those who have truly underperformed and not met the expectations of their assignment are relieved of duty," Barrett wrote. "Additionally, any individuals who were released despite meeting all performance-related expectations should be immediately considered for reinstatement."
Reorg builds on contract terminations, probationary employee terminations
The VA's reorganization memo came shortly after the department touted a swath of "non-mission-critical or duplicative' contract terminations.
These cuts were the "first step" in an audit of the department's roughly 90,000 contracts and were said to free up over $900 million that would be redirected back to veteran care. That announcement did not mention DOGE, instead stressing that "career subject-matter expert employees" had a say in whether to eliminate any contracts.
Prior to that, a Feb. 24 announcement from the department outlined more than 1,400 workers in "non-mission critical positions" who are being let go, adding to a Feb. 13 release disclosing cuts affecting over 1,000 VA probationary employees.
Whereas that first round affected non-union workers, this time the cuts are hitting bargaining-unit probationary employees with either less than a year in their current competitive service appointment or less than two years in an excepted service appointment.
In effect, the total reduction appears to be lower than the 2,400-plus worker total, as reports have circulated in the past week that some fired employees were being reinstated. The department has not addressed how many net employees are affected by the dismissals.
In the Feb. 24 staffing announcement, the VA said its cuts translate to over $83 million of annual savings it plans to redirect toward healthcare, benefits and services for beneficiaries. The first wave cited $98 million per year in savings.
The department specified that the newly announced cuts include roles such as "DEI-related positions" that are considered non-mission critical. It also pointed to Veterans Crisis Line responders as positions considered to be mission critical and therefor unaffected—though prior reporting suggests that the hotline and other essential functions are being impacted despite exemption from the terminations.
The announcement also notes that senior executive service or equivalent leaders above those laid off may request that a laid off probational employee be exempted from removal.
Recent weeks have brought mass firings of probationary employees across other government agencies such as the Department of Education, the U.S. Forest Service, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and even the OPM itself. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has also fired thousands of its probationary workers, though hundreds haven been alerted that those terminations have been rescinded.
The VA said it now has almost 40,000 probationary employees under its umbrella, a cutback from the over 43,000 cited just a couple weeks back. The VA's November’s FY2024 Agency Financial Report cited a total of over 473,000 workers. Nearly 30% of the full workforce are veterans themselves.
The VA operates just over 1,500 healthcare facilities, including 170 medical centers, and provides care to more than 9 million enrolled veterans.
The 2024 agency financial report outlined over $5 billion in total federal employee salary, leave and benefits payable liabilities. Other key points of last year’s budget were significant investments in updating the aging infrastructure of VA medical facilities, including $4.1 billion for construction and $5 billion in medical care funding for nonrecurring maintenance to improve medical facility infrastructure.
“These and other recent personnel decisions are extraordinarily difficult, but VA is focused on allocating its resources to help as many Veterans, families, caregivers and survivors as possible,” VA Secretary Doug Collins said in the announcement.
“These moves will not hurt VA healthcare, benefits or beneficiaries. In fact, Veterans are going to notice a change for the better. In the coming weeks and months, VA will be announcing plans to put these resources to work helping the department fulfill its core mission: providing the best possible care and benefits to Veterans, their families, caregivers and survivors.”