logo
US merit board judge certifies class of fired Interior Department workers

US merit board judge certifies class of fired Interior Department workers

Reuters18-07-2025
July 18 (Reuters) - A U.S. civil service board judge has ruled that hundreds of U.S. Department of Interior employees who were fired and then reinstated amid the Trump administration's purge of the federal workforce can pursue claims that their terminations were illegal as a group.
Chief Administrative Judge Sara Snyder of the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board in a decision on Thursday, opens new tab said the validity of the February mass firing of 1,712 probationary employees at the Interior Department posed a common question that would best be addressed in a class action.
Probationary workers typically have less than one year of service in their current roles, though some are longtime federal employees in new jobs, and they are generally easier to fire than career government workers.
About 20 similar cases involving different federal agencies are pending at the merit board, collectively challenging the Trump administration's mass firings of roughly 25,000 probationary workers in February. Snyder in May certified a class, opens new tab in a case involving the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
But the fate of the cases is uncertain because the board, which must review administrative judges' decisions before they can be enforced, does not have a quorum that can issue rulings.
Unions and nonprofits also sued in federal court over the mass firings, and many of the probationary workers were reinstated after judges said the terminations were likely illegal. Higher courts paused those decisions pending appeals.
Many workers were returned to full duty while some were placed indefinitely on paid administrative leave. At the Interior Department, nearly 1,000 probationary workers were returned to full duty, 274 remain on leave, and nearly 600 resigned or accepted buyouts to quit, according to Snyder's decision.
The class certified by Snyder does not include 323 workers who accepted buyouts, or an unidentified number who have completed their one-year probationary periods or were fired over their individual conduct or performance.
The White House and the Interior Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The department manages and conserves federal and tribal lands, including national parks, and their natural resources.
Danny Rosenthal, a lawyer for the workers who filed the complaint, said the decision was a critical milestone in the case.
"Practically speaking, this means that workers will have the opportunity to bring their claims forward together, giving more people a real chance to seek justice for their firings," Rosenthal said in a statement.
The plaintiffs in all of the pending cases claim the mass terminations of probationary employees amounted to layoffs that are supposed to be guided by complex civil service rules. They are seeking to have the terminations removed from their personnel files.
Probationary workers have limited legal protections compared with other civil servants, but agencies are still required to explain why they are being fired and give them advance notice of mass layoffs.
President Donald Trump fired Cathy Harris, a Democrat on the three-member merit board in January and the term of another Democratic board member expired in February, leaving the board with a single Republican member and no quorom to decide workers' appeals.
The U.S. Supreme Court in May allowed Harris to be removed while her lawsuit challenging her termination plays out. It could set important precedent on Trump's powers to remove officials from agencies designed to be independent from the White House.
The merit board's resources are likely to be strained by an influx of new cases when a quorum is restored. About 10,800 appeals have been filed with the board since Trump took office in January.
The case is Interior Probationary Employees Class v. Department of the Interior, U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board, No. DC-0752-25-1550-I-1.
For the class: Danny Rosenthal of James & Hoffman
For the Interior Department: Not available
Read more:
US federal workers hit back at Trump mass firings with class action complaints
US Supreme Court halts reinstatement of fired federal employees
US Supreme Court lets Trump keep labor board members sidelined for now
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Trump wants to roll back $7 billion in grants for solar projects in low-income communities
Trump wants to roll back $7 billion in grants for solar projects in low-income communities

The Independent

time4 minutes ago

  • The Independent

Trump wants to roll back $7 billion in grants for solar projects in low-income communities

The Trump administration is reportedly considering terminating a $7 billion grant program aimed at helping low- and moderate-income families install home solar panels, part of the White House's larger campaign to claw back billions in Biden-era climate spending. The Environmental Protection Agency is in the process of drafting termination letters to the 60 state agencies, nonprofit groups, and Native American tribes awarded the funding through the Solar for All initiative, part of the Biden administration's landmark 2022 climate law. The agency said Tuesday it has not made a final decision about the grants. Environmental groups say if Trump does go through with the cancellation, the effort will face legal challenges. Wiping away the grants would halt many projects before they were complete. The first Solar for All projects, efforts to install residential solar and battery storage systems for tribal communities in Montana and South Dakota, went online in October 2024. 'One in five households on reservations lack access to electricity, and this program was an opportunity to close that gap,' Cody Two Bears, the chief executive of Indigenized Energy, told The New York Times, which first reported on the cancellation effort. 'But those were just two kickoff projects to show what was coming for the next five years.' Critics of the Trump administration and climate experts said cancelling the grants, which were projected to serve about 900,000 people, would be bad public policy that hurts low-income families and the climate. 'Solar for All is laser focused on helping nearly a million low-income families afford electricity at a time when their bills keep going up,' Zealan Hoover, the EPA's former director of implementation, told The Washington Post. 'If the Trump administration is serious about energy abundance and affordability, then they should be working hard to accelerate — not terminate — these grants.' 'Solar for All means lower utility bills, many thousands of good-paying jobs and real action to address the existential threat of climate change,' Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who championed the program, said in a statement on Tuesday. 'At a time when working families are getting crushed by skyrocketing energy costs and the planet is literally burning, sabotaging this program isn't just wrong — it's absolutely insane.' In March, the EPA said it was terminating a separate pot of $20 billion in climate funding, prompting a legal challenge. In April, a federal judge issued an injunction siding with grant recipients. The administration's One, Big Beautiful Bill spending package, signed in July, repealed the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, the single largest portion of climate money under the Biden law, and ordered any unassigned funds back to the U.S. Treasury. There is an ongoing legal battle between grantees and the federal government over the fate of much of the IRA's climate funding. Grantees say much of the funds were legally obligated before Trump took office and immune from presidential action, while the administration claims it claw the funds back.

NYC faces $64 million cut in security funds from Trump administration
NYC faces $64 million cut in security funds from Trump administration

Reuters

time5 minutes ago

  • Reuters

NYC faces $64 million cut in security funds from Trump administration

WASHINGTON, Aug 5 (Reuters) - The Trump administration said it would cut terrorism prevention funding for New York City, according to a grant notice posted days after a gunman killed four people inside a Manhattan skyscraper. The Federal Emergency Management Agency said in a grant notice, opens new tab posted on Friday that New York City would receive $64 million less this year from its urban area security fund. The U.S. Congress created the program to help cities prevent terrorist and other violent attacks. Manhattan has been the site of two attacks on high-profile corporate executives in the last year. The most recent attack occurred in late July when a gunman armed with an assault-style rifle killed four people inside an office building that houses the headquarters of the NFL and several major financial firms. 'It makes absolutely no sense, and no justification has been given to cut NY's allocation given the rise in the threat environment,' a spokesperson for the New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services said in a statement. A spokesperson for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Tuesday defended the move, saying New York City had not spent all of its counter-terrorism money from previous years. Reuters could not independently verify that assertion. Governor Kathy Hochul highlighted the latest attack in a letter, opens new tab to Noem in July that asked why the Trump administration had not announced the amounts each city would receive from the program this year. DHS is the parent agency of FEMA. The agency uses 'an analysis of relative risk of terrorism' to decide how much money each city will receive, according to the grant notice posted on Friday. The agency may change the amounts later, according to the notice. In 2023, the agency considered city visitor counts, population density and proximity to international borders, among other factors, to determine the totals, according to a report signed by then-FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell. FEMA has been decreasing terrorism prevention money for New York City each year since at least fiscal year 2022. The drop is much more drastic this year at 41% year-over-year. The New York City Police Department has used the funding in the past to pay for the Domain Awareness System, a network of cameras, license plate readers and detection devices, according to a 2016 statement, opens new tab from former Mayor Bill de Blasio's office.

Trump announces he will chair White House taskforce for 2028 LA Olympics
Trump announces he will chair White House taskforce for 2028 LA Olympics

The Guardian

time26 minutes ago

  • The Guardian

Trump announces he will chair White House taskforce for 2028 LA Olympics

Donald Trump announced on Tuesday the creation of a White House taskforce that he will lead to oversee elements of the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. The president signed an executive order establishing the taskforce, which will include JD Vance as well as other cabinet members and government officials. The body will work with local and state authorities on security and transportation for the first Games in the US in nearly three decades. Trump will chair the taskforce, while Vance will serve as vice-chair and an executive director will oversee 'daily operations', according to the White House. 'The LA Olympics is shaping up to be a wonderful moment for America. It's going to be incredible,' Trump said. With the Olympics just three years away, Los Angeles has been rushing to prepare for the Games, which are expected to attract millions of people over the course of 16 days. The city has been planning for the event for years. In recent weeks, city leaders have been engaged in what the Los Angeles Times described as 'high-stakes' negotiations with LA28, the committee managing the event, over the use of city staff, including police officers. Meanwhile, a proposed ballot measure could require some Olympic venues to receive approval from voters in order to be used. The preparations come at a challenging time for LA. The devastating wildfires that tore through the area in January and recovery efforts have strained the region's finances. Meanwhile, the city has clashed fiercely with the Trump administration over aggressive immigration raids in the region and the deployment of US troops into the city over the objections of city and state leaders. Still, LA mayor Karen Bass has said the city will be ready to host the Olympics. And during the peak of this summer's protests, the former International Olympic Committee president, Thomas Bach, expressed confidence in the 'strong' city and said the Games have the support of US leaders. 'With regard to LA, we have the full support of the president of the United States and the governor of California and the mayor of Los Angeles for the success of these Olympic Games,' Bach told the Associated Press in June before he stepped down. Trump's announcement of the taskforce displayed his strong support for the LA Olympicsand his contentious relationship with the region's leaders. In the past, Trump has frequently touted his support for hosting the Games in Los Angeles and his recent budget bill allocates $1bn for security, planning and other Olympic-related costs. At the White House on Tuesday, the president said that the city is 'a little bit of a different place' than it was when selected in 2017, but 'we're gonna bring it back stronger than ever'. Sign up to First Thing Our US morning briefing breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion Trump said that the federal government would consider using the national guard or military during the games, and criticized Bass, calling her 'not very competent', along with Gavin Newsom. The taskforce will 'streamline visa processing and credentialing' for participants and media, the White House said in a statement. The order also directs various government departments, as well as the FBI and the Secret Service to use 'every tool at their disposal' to ensure a safe Olympics, the president said. He also heralded his administration's crackdown on transgender athletes, telling reporters that the US will not let 'men steal trophies from women'. During Tuesday's announcement, the chair and president of LA28 expressed appreciation to the administration for its 'extraordinary' support and praised the creation of the taskforce. 'You've been supportive and helpful every step of the way, and we wouldn't be here without you,' Casey Wasserman said. 'And now with the creation of this taskforce, we've unlocked the opportunity to level up our planning and deliver the largest and yes, greatest Games for our nation ever.'

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store