Listen To Story Above
A radical ruling from a Clinton-appointed judge has sparked controversy by ordering the Trump administration to restore positions of thousands of federal workers previously dismissed for performance issues.
During a conversation on Air Force One, President Trump expressed his strong opposition to the decision. “Well, I have nothing to do with that other than I heard about the decision. I think it’s absolutely ridiculous—absolutely. It’s a judge who’s putting himself in the position of the President of the United States, who was elected by close to 80 million votes. And you have that. You’re having more and more of that. It’s a very dangerous thing for our country, and I would suspect that we’re going to have to get a decision from the Supreme Court.”
Activist judges are sabotaging the President's Article II executive power.
A San Francisco judge illegally ordered the President to rehire thousands of fired federal workers.
Many others issued illegal nationwide injunctions–judicial legislation.
Thank you, @IngrahamAngle. pic.twitter.com/kE86WsAduK
— 🇺🇸 Mike Davis 🇺🇸 (@mrddmia) March 14, 2025
The President further emphasized the impracticality of the ruling, noting concerns about the legitimacy of many terminated positions. “These are people who, in many cases, don’t show up for work. Nobody even knows if they exist. And a judge wants us to pay them, even if they don’t know they exist. If they exist, I don’t think that’s going to be happening, but we’ll have to see. You have to speak to the lawyers about that.”
The controversial decision came from U.S. District Judge William Alsup, who mandated the reinstatement of probationary employees across six federal departments including Veterans Affairs, Defense, Energy, Interior, Treasury, and Agriculture. Alsup claimed the Office of Personnel Management had conducted illegal terminations and subsequently refused to stay his order, expressing dissatisfaction with the OPM acting chief’s failure to appear before his court.
I asked .@POTUS if he would comply with the Clinton-appointee judge's ruling and rehire the fired federal workers.
"I don't think that's going to be happening, but we'll have to see," he told @DailySignal.
"I think it's absolutely ridiculous, absolutely it's a judge that's… pic.twitter.com/FFbxs0aOGX
— Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell (@TheElizMitchell) March 17, 2025
The Trump administration swiftly challenged the ruling through an appeal. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt issued a strong statement defending executive authority: “A single judge is attempting to unconstitutionally seize the power of hiring and firing from the Executive Branch. The President has the authority to exercise the power of the entire executive branch – singular district court judges cannot abuse the power of the entire judiciary to thwart the President’s agenda.”
Leavitt concluded her statement with a direct challenge: “If a federal district court judge would like executive powers, they can try and run for President themselves. The Trump Administration will immediately fight back against this absurd and unconstitutional order.”
