The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday has granted President Donald Trump ability to fire thousands of Federal employees, which was blocked by a lower court decision that would have forced the reinstatement of the fired employees.
The ruling preserves the status quo while legal battles over the controversial firings continue.
The case—OPM, et al. v. AFGE, et al.—involved a challenge to the revival of “Schedule F,” a Trump-era executive order designed to give the president greater authority to remove certain federal employees deemed resistant to executive policies or reform efforts.
A district court in California had issued an injunction on March 13, ordering the Trump administration to rehire probationary employees terminated from six federal agencies, a move supported by several nonprofit advocacy groups.
The high court’s unsigned order stayed that injunction, with Chief Justice Roberts and the majority agreeing that the plaintiffs lacked standing to justify such broad judicial intervention.
The Court referenced the Clapper v. Amnesty International USA precedent, noting that generalized claims from advocacy groups do not meet the legal standard for emergency relief.
Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented, arguing that the lower court’s decision should remain in effect during the ongoing