Latest news with #JamesBredar
CBS News
17-03-2025
- Business
- CBS News
Fired CISA probationary employees to be reinstated after U.S. judge's order last week
More than 130 probationary employees fired last month from the nation's top cyber defense agency will be reinstated Monday, after the Trump administration scrambled to comply with a sweeping court order issued last week. The employees — all of whom were hired or promoted within the past three years — won't immediately return to the office, but instead will be placed on paid administrative leave. Maryland U.S. District Judge James Bredar on Thursday demanded the Trump administration reinstate the probationary employees it initially terminated if they were part of the mass firing , though he did not ban the government from lawfully terminating probationary employees under a reduction in force or for cause. In an email sent Sunday night and obtained by CBS News, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, known as CISA , informed the workers that their employment has been restored at the pay rate they had before they were terminated. "Upon reinstatement, your pay and benefits will restart, and all requirements of federal employment will be applicable including your ethical obligations," the email read. "If you do not wish to be reinstated, please respond with a written statement declining to be reinstated as quickly as possible. Nothing in this process implicates your ability to voluntarily resign." Judge Bredar ordered probationary employees at 18 federal agencies to be reinstated by March 17, either to their jobs or to be placed on administrative leave. The temporary restraining order directed the departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Labor, Transportation, Treasury and Veterans Affairs, as well as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Environmental Protection Agency, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, General Services Administration, Small Business Administration and U.S. Agency for International Development to rejoin fired federal workers to the payroll. On Monday morning, CISA posted a message on its home page noting it is "making every effort to individually contact all impacted individuals," but added that fired employees who believe they fall under the Court's order should contact the agency. Over 4% of CISA's workforce were fired en masse, an event known as the "Valentine's Day Massacre" by employees. A form-letter email previously informed employees they were "not fit for continued employment because your ability, knowledge and skills do not fit the Agency's current needs." Among those impacted were the nation's threat hunters, incident response team members, disabled veterans and employees who'd already signed onto the federal government's deferred resignation program . The cuts also decimated many of the agency's top recruits, enlisted through a program known as the Cyber Talent Management System, plus analysts with top-secret security clearances. It remains unclear if the agency plans to offer backpay to those previously removed. Complicating their reinstatement, several of the previously fired CISA employees told CBS News they had already been instructed to return their laptops and equipment to the agency. Others said they do not expect to be required to physically return to the office. The temporary restraining order is set to expire March 27 at 8 p.m., unless the court acts to extend it. CBS News has reached out to both CISA and DHS for comment.
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Judge to consider blocking mass firings of government employees after 20 states sue
A federal judge on Wednesday will consider the fate of more than 20,000 probationary government employees fired by the Trump administration. During a hearing in U.S. District Court in Maryland, Judge James Bredar will consider issuing a temporary restraining order that would block future firings and reinstate the probationary employees who have already been terminated. The court hearing Wednesday comes after 20 Democratic attorneys general sued to block the firings last week. MORE: Did a top Trump administration official lie about mass firings? A federal judge wants to know "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 Democratic officials argued in their complaint, which named 41 agencies and agency heads as defendants. The attorneys general have argued that the Trump administration violated federal law with the firings by failing to give a required 60-day notice for a reduction in force, opting to pursue the terminations "suddenly and without any advance notice." MORE: After House votes to avert government shutdown, Senate Democrats face 'stark' choice Lawyers with the Department of Justice have argued that the states lack standing because they "cannot interject themselves into the employment relationship between the United States and government workers," and that to grant the temporary restraining order would "circumvent" the administrative process for challenging the firings. MORE: Trump 2nd term live updates: Trump on whether there will be a recession: 'I don't see it at all' In separate lawsuits, two other federal judges have declined to immediately block firings of federal employees or to reinstate them to their positions. "The third time is not the charm. Like the unions and the organizational plaintiffs, the States are strangers to the employment relationships at issue and cannot disrupt the exclusive remedial scheme that Congress put in place to adjudicate these disputes," lawyers with the DOJ argued. Judge to consider blocking mass firings of government employees after 20 states sue originally appeared on
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Judge to consider blocking mass firings of government employees after 20 states sue
A federal judge on Wednesday will consider the fate of more than 20,000 probationary government employees fired by the Trump administration. During a hearing in U.S. District Court in Maryland, Judge James Bredar will consider issuing a temporary restraining order that would block future firings and reinstate the probationary employees who have already been terminated. The court hearing Wednesday comes after 20 Democratic attorneys general sued to block the firings last week. MORE: Did a top Trump administration official lie about mass firings? A federal judge wants to know "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 Democratic officials argued in their complaint, which named 41 agencies and agency heads as defendants. The attorneys general have argued that the Trump administration violated federal law with the firings by failing to give a required 60-day notice for a reduction in force, opting to pursue the terminations "suddenly and without any advance notice." MORE: After House votes to avert government shutdown, Senate Democrats face 'stark' choice Lawyers with the Department of Justice have argued that the states lack standing because they "cannot interject themselves into the employment relationship between the United States and government workers," and that to grant the temporary restraining order would "circumvent" the administrative process for challenging the firings. MORE: Trump 2nd term live updates: Trump on whether there will be a recession: 'I don't see it at all' In separate lawsuits, two other federal judges have declined to immediately block firings of federal employees or to reinstate them to their positions. "The third time is not the charm. Like the unions and the organizational plaintiffs, the States are strangers to the employment relationships at issue and cannot disrupt the exclusive remedial scheme that Congress put in place to adjudicate these disputes," lawyers with the DOJ argued. Judge to consider blocking mass firings of government employees after 20 states sue originally appeared on
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
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, such as 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 case was assigned to U.S. District Judge James Bredar, an appointee of former President Obama. 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.' Updated at 9:25 a.m. EST Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
