LEILA FADEL, HOST:
In a win for the White House, a federal appeals court has paved the way for the administration to once again fire probationary federal workers who had just been reinstated. It's the latest jolt for employees at scores of different federal agencies. NPR's Chris Arnold reports.
CHRIS ARNOLD, BYLINE: Tens of thousands of federal workers were suddenly fired right after President Trump took office. They had what's called probationary status because they were hired recently or they'd just got promoted. Two different lawsuits alleged, though, that the firings were illegal, and two federal judges both ordered that the workers be rehired as the cases move forward. The government did hire back thousands of workers. But this week, those judges' orders were both paused - one by the Supreme Court; the other by an appeals court in Maryland - apparently clearing the way for the administration to fire the workers all over again if it chooses to.
MICHELLE BERKOVICH: This is pandemonium, and it's obviously causing a lot of confusion.
ARNOLD: Michelle Berkovich is an employment attorney who's been working on other legal efforts to help probationary workers. She says she's been hearing from some of them over the past couple of days.
BERKOVICH: Folks are just at a loss. This is unfortunately not going to be the quick solution that we were hoping to see.
ARNOLD: The Trump administration has framed the mass firings of federal workers as part of an effort to target inefficiency, waste, fraud and abuse. The president last month, after a cabinet meeting, spoke about his administration's efforts, as he put it, cutting a lot of people.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Many didn't come to work. Many had no intention of coming to work. Many were paid and working someplace else. There were lots of bad scenarios, but they're being weeded out.
ARNOLD: Berkovich says for probationary workers, that is just not true.
BERKOVICH: It is absolutely not true. I can say I've looked at a database of about 10,000 employees - probationary employees terminated. Most of them had glowing reviews, whose supervisors are profusely apologizing for being forced to fire them despite their great work.
ARNOLD: One of the lawsuits was filed in California. It alleges, among other things, that the government lied to thousands of workers about why they were being fired. The judge at a hearing at one point said, quote, "it is a sad day when our government would fire some good employee and say it was based on performance when they know good and well that that is a lie." The government maintains that the firings were proper. Berkovich notes that despite this setback for workers, both of these lawsuits will keep moving ahead.
BERKOVICH: The two cases are ongoing. They are not dead in the water by any means.
ARNOLD: Still, she's telling workers if they find another good job, they should probably take it.
Chris Arnold, NPR News.
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