Federal Judges Block Trump’s Mass Firings of Federal Workers

A U.S. federal judge temporarily blocked a Trump administration effort to fire thousands of federal employees including at the Department of Homeland Security, where the U.S. cyber defense agency is housed.

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U.S. District Judge James Bredar ordered the administration to reinstate thousands of probationary employees across 18 agencies by 1:00 p.m. on March 17. The order, which is temporary pending the outcome of a lawsuit initiated by 20 state attorneys general, also covers Treasury, Commerce, Veterans Affairs.

DHS has fired more than 400 employees since the self-styled Department of Government Efficiency launched a wave layoffs across federal civilian agencies, including an estimated 130 from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

A CISA official who asked not to be named said it’s not clear whether the agency will begin immediately reinstating employees dismissed during the DOGE-led firings.

Bredar’s order came just hours after another ruling from a federal judge who ordered the administration to reinstate probationary employees across six federal agencies, determining the Office of Personnel Management lacked the authority to direct the terminations at the Departments of Defense, Treasury, Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Energy and Interior. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt declined Friday to say whether the administration reinstate probationary employees. “It’s very clear there are judicial activists throughout the judicial branch who are trying to block this president’s executive authority – we are going to fight back,” she told reporters.

The order follows warnings that mass layoffs affecting cybersecurity positions and national security agencies create risk. “Now is not the time to dial back on our cyber capabilities,” said Rob Joyce, who served as cybersecurity coordinator on the National Security Council during the first Trump administration. He testified during a March 6 hearing of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. “I want to raise my grave concerns that the aggressive threats to cut U.S. government probationary employees will have a devastating impact on cybersecurity and national security” (see: Ex-NSA Official: Federal Purge Threatens National Security).

The mass firings have sparked concerns over U.S. cyber defenses, as terminated employees and federal contractors, like Christopher Chenoweth, a senior penetration tester for DHS, share their stories. Chenoweth said on LinkedIn that his contract was cut by DOGE in late February in a move that eliminated more than 100 staff supporting red team infrastructure across multiple cloud providers.

CISA released a statement saying that, “contrary to inaccurate reporting,” the agency had not “laid off” its red team but rather “has taken action to terminate contracts where the agency has been able to find efficiencies and eliminate duplication of effort.”

The agency said the decision was made “as good stewards of the taxpayer dollar” and added that the contract action “did not impact the employment status of CISA personnel.”

OPM and DOGE did not respond to requests for comment.