A federal appeals court has dealt a heavy blow to a coalition of Democratic-led states and Washington, D.C., ruling they cannot challenge President Donald Trump’s sweeping dismissal of more than 25,000 newly hired federal employees.
In a 2–1 decision, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond declared that the states lacked legal standing, reasoning they could not prove direct harm from the February mass terminations of probationary workers.
The ruling effectively dismantles a Baltimore judge’s earlier order that had temporarily forced agencies to reinstate tens of thousands of employees. That injunction was narrowed, then paused in April, and has now been overturned entirely.
At the heart of the case was the claim that Trump’s administration violated federal law by failing to provide state and local governments 60 days’ notice before initiating layoffs—a safeguard meant to prepare for a surge of unemployment claims.
Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson, writing for the majority, acknowledged that while some view the firings as “harsh,” others see them as a necessary step to trim the “bloat of the federal bureaucracy.” He added pointedly that such disputes belong not in courtrooms but at the ballot box. Wilkinson’s opinion was joined by Judge Allison Jones Rushing, also appointed by a Republican president.
In a sharp dissent, Judge DeAndrea Benjamin, a Biden appointee, accused the government of attempting to skirt the nation’s laws, refusing to put her imprimatur on what she saw as executive overreach.
The mass dismissals swept across agencies ranging from Agriculture and Education to Homeland Security, Treasury, and Veterans Affairs. Most of the workers were probationary, meaning they had been in their posts less than a year, though some were long-term federal employees reassigned to new roles.
A White House spokesperson hailed the decision as validation of Trump’s push to streamline government, calling it “yet another win” for the administration. Maryland’s attorney general, who helped spearhead the states’ lawsuit, signaled his office is weighing next steps.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has already frozen a separate San Francisco ruling that sought to reinstate nearly 17,000 workers at six federal agencies, pending the administration’s appeal.
