Trump mass firings may be 'contrary' to law, watchdog rules

24 February

U.S. President Donald Trump reacts during a press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron (not pictured) at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 24, 2025.

The federal government ethics watchdog whose attempted firing by President Donald Trump has been temporarily blocked, has ruled that the firings of some “probationary” federal employees may violate federal law.

“Firing probationary employees without individualized cause appears contrary to a reasonable reading of the law, particularly the provisions establishing rules for reductions in force,” Special Counsel Hampton Dellinger of the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC), an independent agency of the federal government, said in a statement on Monday.

Pointing to the 1978 Civil Service Reform Act, Dellinger said that “the merit system principles have guided how federal government agencies hire, manage, and, if necessary, remove federal employees. These principles establish that all federal employees, including those in a probationary status, should be evaluated based on individual performance.”

Dellinger’s statement was specific to six employees, but critically, it added that he believes that “other probationary employees are similarly situated,” meaning their firings also would appear contrary to law. The statement did not say how many, but added that “Dellinger is considering ways to seek relief for a broader group without the need for individual filings with OSC.”

On Friday, the Supreme Court “neither granted nor denied an emergency request filed by the Trump administration after lower courts had blocked the effort” to fire Dellinger, in what NBC News described as “an unusual, tentative move.” He currently, and possibly temporarily, remains in his position.

The six employees Dellinger referenced include “a trial attorney with the Department of Housing and Urban Development, a benefits analyst at the Office of Personnel Management and a training specialist with the Department of Veterans Affairs, according to a report by WUSA9‘s Jordan Fischer.

“Because Congress has directed that OSC ‘shall’ protect government employees from PPPs, I believe I have a responsibility to request a stay of these actions while my agency continues to investigate further the apparent violation of federal personnel laws,” Delligner’s statement also reads.

“Dellinger himself was one of the thousands of federal employees Trump has attempted to fire,” WUSA9 also reported. “Despite being nominated by former President Joe Biden and confirmed by the U.S. Senate to a five-year term last year, Dellinger said in a lawsuit that he was informed he was fired in a one-line email earlier this month. A federal judge in D.C. ordered Dellinger temporarily restored to his post while she hears arguments from the Trump administration about the president’s authority to fire him.”

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