Court gives big blow to Trump, judge orders reinstatement of fired employees

International news: Court has dealt a major blow to the new US President Donald Trump. A California court on Thursday ordered six US departments to reinstate thousands of recently fired employees. During a hearing in San Francisco, District Judge William Alsup issued the order to six departments, including US Defense, Agriculture, Energy and Treasury. He said the Office of Personnel Management does not have the power to order removals. There is evidence of wrongful termination of employees in these six departments. However, he did not order the 16 agencies and groups involved in the lawsuit to reinstate the employees.

Probationary employees' jobs at greater risk

Last month, Alsop temporarily blocked OPM from firing recently hired probationary employees. Probationary workers are typically employees who have been in their current role for less than a year. Their jobs are more precarious than government employees and they can be removed based on their performance.

Don't remove cybersecurity team: White House

The White House has asked federal agencies to avoid laying off cybersecurity workers. In fact, agencies had to submit their plans for large-scale layoffs to cut budgets. U.S. Chief Information Officer Greg Barbaccia said in an email that cybersecurity is a national security issue and that department chief information officers have been asked to consider it when conducting reviews within their organizations. There is full confidence that agencies will identify employees from other areas without affecting their cyber behavior.