Many people still cannot work despite a court order

Interaction of the CFPB with the Department of Labor and Employment Laws: A federal court ruling against the Trump administration’s attempts to illegally wind down the agency

Later that evening, U.S. District Judge James Bredar ordered 18 agencies to temporarily reinstate their fired probationary employees in a case brought in federal court in Baltimore by a group of Democratic attorneys general. Nineteen states argue that they suffered harm because they did not receive 60 days’notice of mass layoffs required by federal law, which left them unable to provide a rapid response that could have mitigated the economic impact.

The CFPB headquarters is still closed. Some employees who were recently re-hired need to get access to the systems in order to do their jobs, even though HR guidance is pending on how that will work.

A union representing CFPB employees has been arguing in a separate court case that the Trump administration is trying to illegally wind down the agency, which had about 1,700 employees before the cuts. Martinez testified in federal court last week about the frightening week that DOGE showed up at the agency, but also said that the agency’s new acting leadership is more measured — in his words, “There’s hope.” A CFPB employee appointed to lead the team in charge of mass firings, however, testified about the administration’s alleged plans to terminate 1,200 employees and shut down the agency, and that there’d been no change in plans even after the judge had previously ordered a pause on further firings.

Federal agencies continue to unwind the firings of federal employees to comply with court orders, in a labor-intensive process affecting more than 24,000 people nationwide.

State of the Incidence: The First Presidential Injunction on Payed Administrative Leave and the First Steps toward Full Reconciling

“Singular district court judges cannot abuse the power of the entire judiciary to sabotage the President’s agenda,” said the White House press secretary last week. “If a federal district court judge would like executive powers, they can try and run for President themselves.”

All 18 agencies reported that they had canceled terminations for the vast majority of those fired. A majority of the agencies stated they had placed reinstated employees on paid administrative leave, with no other information on when or even whether they would resume work.

They also warned of “significant confusion” that would ensue should an appeals court overturn the judges’ rulings, making it harder for managers to assign work.

In response, the government denied it was trying to skirt Alsup’s order and said reinstating people into paid leave status was “an administrative, intermediate measure,” merely the first of a series of steps to full reinstatement. The government didn’t say what the next steps would be.

The preliminary injunction requires agencies to give a list of their terminated employees and an explanation of what they’ve done to comply.

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