In a significant legal development, Attorney General Kwame Raoul, along with a coalition of 20 attorneys general, achieved a preliminary injunction from the U.S. District Court for Maryland. The ruling is part of an ongoing lawsuit targeting the mass termination of federal probationary employees by numerous federal agencies.
The court's decision mandates these federal agencies to reinstate unlawfully terminated probationary employees and adhere to legal procedures in any future workforce reductions. "The mass firings of dedicated civil servants create chaos and instability within our federal government," commented Raoul. He emphasized the adverse impact on the lives of thousands of federal employees, including veterans. Raoul described the firings as "callous and a violation of the law."
This legal action began following a lawsuit filed by Raoul and other attorneys general, seeking redress for irreparable harms alleged to have been inflicted on Illinois and the other states involved in the case. A temporary restraining order was issued on March 14, initially affecting 18 federal agencies, and subsequently extended by five days. Without this injunction, Illinois and other plaintiff states could have faced severe consequences.
The injunction continues the court's earlier directive, stopping unlawful mass firings and directing the reinstatement of probationary employees. It applies to numerous federal agencies, including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Labor, Transportation, Treasury, Veterans Affairs, Environmental Protection Agency, FDIC, General Services Administration, Office of Personnel Management, Small Business Administration, and USAID.
Attorney General Raoul is not acting alone. He is joined in this legal challenge by his counterparts from Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin.