The Supreme Court has lifted a judge’s order blocking the Trump administration from firing thousands of probationary employees at six federal Cabinet departments.
The high court ruling is a preliminary win for President Donald Trump’s efforts to rapidly downsize the federal workforce, but the decision’s ultimate impact is murky because another federal judge has issued a separate order reinstating many of the same probationary workers.
The Supreme Court’s order Tuesday said nonprofit groups lacked legal standing to bring lawsuits challenging the firings of probationary workers at the departments of Defense, Treasury, Energy, Interior, Agriculture and Veterans Affairs. Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented.
The justices acted in response to an emergency appeal from the Trump administration in a lawsuit brought in California.
