The Washington State Attorney General's Office has joined a lawsuit against the U.S. Office of Personnel Management and other federal agencies. The lawsuit challenges what is described as illegal efforts by the Trump administration to terminate federal employees on a large scale.
According to the lawsuit, President Trump has been dismissing thousands of federal workers, claiming performance issues as the reason. These dismissals reportedly include employees with strong performance records and long service histories, some of whom have recently been promoted.
Washington state manages over 12 million acres of federal land through agencies impacted by these labor cuts. The Attorney General's Office argues that these actions negatively affect various sectors in Washington, including energy supply reliability, wildfire management, veteran services, and small business support.
The state Employment Security Department indicates that approximately 76,000 federal employees work in Washington. The Attorney General's Office estimates that at least 1,000 of these workers have lost their jobs due to what it claims are illegal actions by the president.
"Many of the president’s power grabs have this problem in common – they’re illegal," said Washington State Attorney General Nick Brown. "These firings don’t save the public a dime, but they do make government less responsive."
The lawsuit was initially filed in Northern California by a coalition of labor groups and other organizations. It has already led to a temporary restraining order from a judge on February 27. The order states that the administration's actions were likely illegal and directs the Office of Personnel Management to withdraw its instruction for agencies to fire nearly all probationary employees.
The original plaintiffs include several unions and advocacy groups such as the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), Main Street Alliance, and others.
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