The Trump administration’s mass firings of career federal employees can move forward for now, a federal judge said, clearing the path for more terminations in the coming days.
The court likely lacks subject matter jurisdiction to hear the claims, which instead must be brought before the Federal Labor Relations Authority, Judge Christopher Cooper of the US District Court for the District of Columbia ruled Thursday.
The decision is a legal blow for the National Treasury Employees Union, National Federation of Federal Employees, and the three other unions that filed the lawsuit. They argued that the firings will diminish the dues revenue they collect from members.
NTEU National President Doreen Greenwald in a statement called the ruling a “temporary setback.”
“The lawsuit we filed with our labor union partners will be heard and federal employees will get their day in court to challenge the unlawful mass firings and other attacks on their jobs, their agencies, and their service to the country,” she said.
Since a Feb. 11 executive order directing agencies to shrink their ranks, the Trump administration has discharged tens of thousands of employees nationwide, including those that regulate public health, aviation safety, and banking.
“Federal district judges are duty-bound to decide legal issues based on even-handed application of law and precedent—no matter the identity of the litigants or, regrettably at times, the consequences of their rulings for average people,” Cooper, an Obama appointee, wrote.
The FLRA enforces labor laws for the federal workforce. The agency has been without a general counsel since 2017, meaning that unions must go through arbitration before appealing decisions to it.
Former FLRA Chair Susan Grundmann said in a lawsuit that Trump unlawfully terminated her. Her removal leaves the FLRA’s remaining two members with a partisan deadlock.
NTEU represents about 150,000 federal employees and NFFE represents 110,000, according to their initial complaint. The Office of Personnel Management, the federal government’s HR division, declined to comment on the ruling.
The case is Nat’l Treasury Employees Union v. Trump, D.D.C., 1:25-cv-00420, 2/20/25.
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