DOJ asks Supreme Court to lift injunctions, approve DOGE firings
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has officially filed an appeal, wherein it’s asking the Supreme Court to reverse a lower court’s injunction that instructed the federal government to rehire thousands of probationary workers released since President Donald Trump took office.
While there have been multiple rulings against the mass firings of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the DOJ is specifically appealing a ruling from a federal district court in California that ordered some 16,000 employees, fired from six federal agencies, to be reinstated.
Among the list are probationary workers from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), which has experienced multiple staffing cuts since February.
For now, the employees have been notified of their reinstatement and are on paid administrative leave, pending a ruling by the Supreme Court.
In its court filing, the DOJ challenged the legal standing of the organizations that brought the suit, all of whom are private parties who rely on federal employees. Additionally, they said the preliminary injunction of the lower court was “spontaneously issued” without merit, constituting an “unlawful remedy.”
“[The district] court issued this sweeping relief on the theory that the agency decisionmakers wrongly believed that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) had directed the terminations—even though OPM clarified otherwise in response to the court’s temporary restraining order, and even though the six enjoined agencies subsequently chose to stand by the terminations,” the DOJ wrote, adding that the lower court is violating the separation of powers protected by the U.S. Constitution. They further argued that the “court’s preliminary injunction thus let third parties hijack the employment relationship between the federal government and its workforce.”
Further, the federal government said the court had requested updates on the rehiring, confirming that their ruling does not allow for employees to be placed on administrative leave. Rather, the district court is ordering that the workers be returned to their roles, something the DOJ believes is an overreach.
“That is no way to run a government. This court should stop the ongoing assault on the constitutional structure before further damage is wrought,” the agency argued in its filing.
In the filing, the government said there have been more than 40 rulings issued against DOGE and the Trump administration to date. Most of the temporary restraining orders and injunctions have yet to be upheld on by the highest court in the land, which could choose to leave lower court rulings in place, issue a new set of guidelines for how Trump may proceed, or overturn the decisions of lower courts outright.
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court rejected Trump’s attempt to nullify made federal contracts, ordering that those funds, allocated by Congress, must be used to fulfill pending agreements.
This is a developing story, and it’s not clear when the DOJ’s appeal will move forward.
Chad is an award-winning writer and editor with over 15 years of experience working in media. He has a decade-long professional background in healthcare, working as a writer and in public relations.