SCOTUS Blocks Order Forcing Trump To Rehire Fired Workers

By
Rachel Stevenson
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Well, there it is—the Supreme Court just reminded the judiciary’s wild-eyed West Coast branch that even in San Francisco, the Constitution still applies.

In a clear 7-2 decision, the highest court in the land blocked yet another activist attempt to micromanage the executive branch from the bench. This time, it was U.S. District Judge William Alsup trying to force President Trump’s administration to rehire more than 16,000 probationary federal workers who, according to the Trump-era Office of Personnel Management, simply weren’t cutting it. Fired for “performance,” which apparently is a foreign concept to the federal employee unions now clutching their pearls.

Alsup, a Clinton appointee, went full courtroom melodrama, calling the performance justification a “gimmick” and painting the Trump administration’s effort to clean up a bloated federal workforce as some Dickensian nightmare. Because, of course, it’s San Francisco, where consequences are for taxpayers and accountability is offensive.

According to him, it’s a “sad day” when underperforming government employees are shown the door. A sad day for whom, exactly? Certainly not for the millions of Americans who have to deal with those “good employees” at the DMV, the IRS, or the VA when they can’t get a phone call returned in under three weeks.

But the Supreme Court wasn’t buying the drama. In its decision, the Court noted that Alsup’s order relied solely on the allegations of nine non-profit organizations—and no, non-profits whining on behalf of other people who weren’t invited to the party don’t constitute legal standing. That’s not “established law,” that’s established fantasy, and it’s about time someone told the federal bench in California that.

Acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris laid it out in plain English: Alsup’s order was doing “irreparable harm” to the Executive Branch. Translation: You don’t get to run the government from your chambers just because you didn’t like the election outcome. If Trump wants to trim the fat in federal agencies, especially when it comes to probationary employees, who are literally in a trial period, that’s not only his prerogative, it’s what the voters hired him to do.

Of course, no good ruling can happen without the usual suspects dissenting. Justices Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson, shockingly, decided to side with the unions over constitutional boundaries. Because, naturally, when in doubt, the progressive wing will always favor more bureaucracy, more red tape, and a federal workforce that couldn’t be fired if they showed up to work in pajamas and took naps under their desks.

And don’t worry, CNN was quick to jump in and point out that a separate Maryland judge is still doing his part to prop up the administrative state by ordering reinstatements in 20 agencies across 19 states. Because the job’s never done when it comes to protecting the sacred cow of government inefficiency.

But make no mistake, this was a win for President Trump—and a big one. Not just for cleaning house, but for restoring a bit of sanity to the idea that the executive branch gets to… you know… execute. Federal agencies aren’t sacred temples where no one can be fired. They’re supposed to be accountable to leadership and to the people who pay the bills—us. If a president can’t dismiss employees during their probationary period for poor performance, then why have the period at all?

So let the AP and CNN spin this as some ambiguous legal landscape. What really happened here is that the Trump administration drew a line, the unions threw a tantrum, a judge tried to overreach, and the Supreme Court stepped in and said, “Nope. Not today.” The swamp’s going to keep squirming, but this was a reminder that not all the courts are on its side. Sometimes, common sense still wins.

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