The majority of the Court of Appeals’ Committee say blocking the lower court order will “confuse the status quo and turn it above your head.”
On March 17, the federal appeals court denied President Donald Trump’s administration’s attempt to stop the thousands of new federal officials who were recently fired from reinstatement.
US Circuit Judges Ana de Alba and Barry Silverman formed the majority.
On March 13, US District Judge William Alsap ordered six agencies, including the Department of Defense, to revive thousands of workers who were fired for being in the Probation Bureau position and not considered mission critical.
Trump administration lawyers have filed an emergency motion for a stay pending appeal.
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They also said the order would be void as the court said it had misdetermined multiple issues, including whether the union that pleaded for fire was injured.
U.S. Circuit Judge Bridget S. Bade, the third judge on the 9th Circuit, said she has granted the government’s request.
“The government argues that the interim district court injunction is persuasive to impose a significant administrative burden, which requires six agencies to accept onboarding, qualifications, and other talent or management measures and provide a return to thousands of terminated employees who may need it,” she writes.
Bade added that keeping the order later would cause additional confusion if it was later overturned.
“The plaintiffs have not challenged these claims. They argue that government services that rely on them and their organizational members will continue to be disrupted by dismissal and injured by the government’s inability to provide services. However, the plaintiffs do not offer reasons to believe that an immediate offer to reinstate these harms. Instead, the terms of control of the immediate revival of potentially thousands of employees will likely draw out the resources of agents (already depleted) that will likely move away from designated service functions,” she said.
The denial of the emergency motion is not the end of the case. The Court of Appeal will consider whether to issue a pending appeal. The U.S. Supreme Court can also step in and maintain the order as the case progresses when asked by the Trump administration.
