Latest news with #AdamAbelson
The Hill
07-03-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
20 Dem AGs sue over Trump efforts to fire probationary employees
Democratic state attorneys general in Washington, D.C., and 19 states sued the Trump administration late Thursday over its efforts to carry out mass firings of federal workers. The attorneys general seek a court order reinstating fired probationary employees, meaning those who were either hired or promoted within the past year or two and have fewer job protections than other federal workers. 'These large-scale, indiscriminate firings are not only subjecting the Plaintiff States and communities across the country to chaos. They are also against the law,' the lawsuit states. Filed in federal court in Baltimore, the Maryland-led suit claims the administration didn't follow 'reduction in force' procedures mandated under federal regulations, like providing 60 days' notice. The firings come as part of the Trump administration's broader efforts to rapidly reshape and dismantle parts of the federal bureaucracy, largely through the Department of Government Efficiency. The states' lawsuit was assigned to U.S. District Judge Adam Abelson, an appointee of former President Biden. It adds to three existing cases challenging the probationary employee firings. After a group of government employee unions secured an initial victory in their suit, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) this week walked back its original memo instructing agencies to pull together lists of their probationary employees. OPM now indicates it's up to each agency whether to boot their hires. 'This campaign has inflicted immense harms on tens of thousands of probationary employees and their families,' the lawsuit states. 'It has rendered them jobless without providing any advance notice that might have given them an opportunity to seek other employment or even budget to prepare for the loss of income,' it continued. 'As a result, many affected employees and their families are struggling to make ends meet — to pay rent, buy groceries, and care for their loved ones.'
Yahoo
22-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump DEI Orders Mostly Blocked in Diversity Officers Challenge
(Bloomberg Law) -- A federal judge in Baltimore preliminarily halted the Trump administration from enforcing portions of the president's sweeping executive orders targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion programs that it considers illegal and discriminatory. Trump to Halt NY Congestion Pricing by Terminating Approval Trump Targets $128 Billion California High-Speed Rail Project Trump Asserts Power Over NYC, Proclaims 'Long Live the King' Airbnb Billionaire Offers Pre-Fab Homes for LA Fire Victims Sorry, Kids: Disney's New York Headquarters Is for Grown-Ups Judge Adam Abelson of the US District Court for the District of Maryland granted the challengers' request for a preliminary injunction in part. Abelson, a Biden appointee, focused on provisions directing agencies to terminate 'equity-related' grants or contracts, requiring contractors or grantees to certify they aren't 'promoting DEI,' and directing the attorney general to encourage the private sector to end DEI programs. The ruling is a win for groups representing college diversity officers, university professors, and restaurant workers, along with city officials from Baltimore. They initially filed the challenge Feb. 3. The anti-DEI directives were among the first batch of Trump's executive orders signed Jan. 20 and 21. The orders call for eliminating DEI programs from federal agencies, require federal contractors to certify that they don't operate illegal diversity programs, and task agencies with developing plans for civil investigations of private-sector entities with discriminatory DEI efforts. A memo from US Attorney General Pam Bondi subsequently called on Justice Department staff to develop their own enforcement plans, potentially including criminal investigations. Federal agencies had already begun freezing or canceling federal grants and contracts to comply with Trump's anti-DEI policies, putting people's jobs in 'imminent danger' and forcing individuals and institutions to censor their speech to avoid running afoul of the federal orders, the plaintiffs said in a Feb. 13 brief. 'These harms stem directly from the Orders, that seek to suppress views that the President disfavors,' the plaintiffs said. 'But the President simply does not wield that power.' Trump's DEI orders ostensibly focus on programs that violate anti-bias laws by giving preferences in hiring, promotions, college admissions, and the like based on traits such as race and gender, rather than making merit-based decisions. Opponents of the policies including Democratic state attorneys general have criticized them as overly broad and vague, saying they conflate illegal hiring preferences with other kinds of legal, pro-diversity efforts such as recruiting policies and unconscious bias training. Asian Americans Advancing Justice and Democracy Forward represent the plaintiffs: the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education, the American Association of University Professors, Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, and the mayor and city council of Baltimore. The Justice Department represents the government. The case is Nat'l Assoc. of Diversity Officers in Higher Ed. v. Trump, D. Md., No. 1:25-cv-00333, 2/21/25. To contact the reporter on this story: Chris Marr in Atlanta at cmarr@ To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jay-Anne B. Casuga at jcasuga@ Meet Seven of America's Top Personal Finance Influencers Japan Perfected 7-Eleven. Why Can't the US Get It Right? How Med Spas Conquered America The Undocumented Workers Who Helped Build Elon Musk's Texas Gigafactory India's Most Reliable Retirement Plan: Selling Grandma's Jewelry ©2025 Bloomberg L.P.
Yahoo
22-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Judge temporarily blocks Trump administration from carrying out certain anti-DEI directives
A federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration from carrying out certain directives of the president to crack down on diversity, equity and inclusion – or DEI – programs US District Judge Adam Abelson said that the government could not freeze or cancel 'equity-related' contracts, nor could it require recipients of grants to certify that their programs do not promote DEI. Nor is the government allowed to bring any False Claims Act enforcement action, under the judge's preliminary injunction order. This is a developing story and will be updated.
Yahoo
22-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘Arbitrary and discriminatory': Judge blocks Trump's effort to deter DEI programs
A federal judge blocked President Donald Trump's bid to deprive federal funding from programs that incorporate 'diversity, equity and inclusion' initiatives. U.S. District Judge Adam Abelson ruled that Trump's policy likely violates the First Amendment because it penalizes private organizations based on their viewpoints. And the judge said the policy is written so vaguely that it chills the free speech of federal contractors concerned they will be punished if they don't eliminate programs meant to encourage a diverse workforce. Abelson, a Baltimore-based appointee of President Joe Biden, said longstanding court precedent bars the federal government from 'leveraging its funding to restrict federal contractors and grantees from otherwise exercising their First Amendment rights.'
CNN
22-02-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Judge temporarily blocks Trump administration from carrying out certain anti-DEI directives
A federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration from carrying out certain directives of the president to crack down on diversity, equity and inclusion – or DEI – programs US District Judge Adam Abelson said that the government could not freeze or cancel 'equity-related' contracts, nor could it require recipients of grants to certify that their programs do not promote DEI. Nor is the government allowed to bring any False Claims Act enforcement action, under the judge's preliminary injunction order. This is a developing story and will be updated.
