US judge halts Trump administration's proposal to dismiss large numbers of federal employees

An US federal judge issued on Thursday an order to temporarily block the Donald Trump administration's order directing federal agencies to execute mass firings of newly hired employees, as reported by Reuters.

San Francisco district judge William Alsup said his opinion that US Office of Personnel Management was not able to direct federal agencies to dismiss any employees, even probationary ones with less than a year of working experience.

The court's decision follows US the president Donald Trump and billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk co-chair the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) announced that they would be laying off employees in order to reduce cost within the administration.

Judge Alsup directed the official of management personnel to cancel an email sent out on January 20 as well as an email sent on February 14 that were issued by federal agencies to determine probationary employees who weren't "mission-critical" and fire them.

The judge said that the massive firings of federal employees that began in early March would be a major cause of harm, and include reductions to parks in the national park as well as scientific research and support for veterans.

"Probationary personnel are vitality for our federal government. They start at a low point and then work their way up. This is how we renew us," Judge Alsup said.

The defense department is planning to dismiss 5,400 probationary employees as they do not fall under the scope of the lawsuit filed by unions of employees. The judge however ordered the government to inform the defense department that their memo and email was deemed to be invalid.