Federal appeals courts are pushing back against the Trump administration’s attempts to revive its freeze on federal grants and loans and its firing of government workers.
On Wednesday, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rebuffed an emergency motion by the Office of Personnel Management to move forward on terminating “probationary” employees — generally those who have served less than one to two years — at six agencies, including the Interior and Energy departments.
The matter is currently before the Supreme Court, and OPM had asked the 9th Circuit to block a lower court’s order against the firings while the legal fight plays out.
“Appellants have demonstrated neither that they are sufficiently likely to succeed on the merits of this appeal nor that they will suffer irreparable harm from complying with the preliminary injunction,” wrote Senior Judge Barry Silverman, a Clinton appointee, and Judge Ana de Alba, a Biden appointee.
