President Donald Trump has suffered a legal blow after a U.S. appeals court refused to pause an earlier ruling requiring his administration to reinstate fired probationary federal workers.

Why It Matters

The new Department of Government Efficiency has overseen a wave of job cuts in the federal government, with DOGE recommending firing more than 200,000 federal workers.

The cuts are intended to improve government efficiency and reduce spending, but opponents have criticized them, raising concerns about their legality and whether they will disrupt government functionality.

On March 13, U.S. District Judge William Alsup issued a preliminary injunction requiring federal agencies to rehire probationary employees terminated under the Trump administration.

What To Know

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals opted not to pause Alsup’s ruling, meaning that Trump still must reinstate more than 17,000 workers at six agencies who lost their jobs during Trump’s second administration:

The agencies are the Department of Defense, Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Agriculture, Department of Energy, Department of the Interior and the Treasury Department.

“This is a blow to the Trump administration. The Courts are the last barrier to Trump’s chaotic disregard for the Constitution. Congress has capitulated to Trump,” Matthew Mangino, a former district attorney in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, told Newsweek.

“The question is, will the Trump administration comply with the court’s order?

“In the meantime, this matter, among others, will lead to the Supreme Court. That will be the real showdown,” he said.

What People Are Saying

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt condemned Alsup in a statement on March 14 for ruling against the Trump administration in a related case involving thousands of fired federal workers.

“A single judge is attempting to unconstitutionally seize the power of hiring and firing from the Executive Branch. The President has the authority to exercise the power of the entire executive branch—singular district court judges cannot abuse the power of the entire judiciary to thwart the President’s agenda,” Leavitt said.

What Happens Next

U.S. District Judge James Bredar ruled in a separate lawsuit that the Trump administration did not follow the rules required for mass layoffs. He ordered agencies except at the Department of Defense and 13 others mentioned in Alsup’s order to rehire employees.

A Richmond, Virginia-based appeals court also recently refused to pause this ruling.

On Monday, the Trump administration filed a legal request with the Supreme Court for an emergency stay of Alsup’s order.