Maryland AG Anthony Brown: Attorney General Brown Wins Preliminary Injunction Against Trump Administration for Mass Firings of Federal Probationary Employees
“When the Trump Administration fired tens of thousands of federal probationary employees, they claimed it was due to poor work performance. We know better. This was a coordinated effort to eliminate the federal workforce – even if it meant breaking the law," Attorney General Brown said.
BALTIMORE – Attorney General Anthony G. Brown led a coalition of 20 attorneys general to secure a preliminary injunction (PI) in Maryland et al. v. USDA, a lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for Maryland suing numerous federal agencies for the unlawful mass firing of federal probationary employees.
The PI protects federal probationary employees who live or work in the plaintiff states and orders 20 federal agencies to reinstate unlawfully terminated probationary employees while the court case continues. The PI also requires those agencies to follow lawful procedures in conducting any future reductions in force.
Statement from Attorney General Brown:
“When the Trump Administration fired tens of thousands of federal probationary employees, they claimed it was due to poor work performance. We know better. This was a coordinated effort to eliminate the federal workforce – even if it meant breaking the law.
These mass layoffs forced hardworking civil servants and their families into financial insecurity, a sudden and unexpected crisis that risked overwhelming our State’s ability to help the unemployed.
I will not let the president threaten our communities or the livelihoods of Marylanders just so he can fulfill his misguided goal of dismantling the federal government, in the name of government efficiency.
This ruling ensures Maryland jobs and resources are safe while we continue this fight in court.”
On March 6, 2025, Attorney General Brown led the coalition in suing numerous federal agencies for causing irreparable injuries to Maryland and the other plaintiff states. The lawsuit sought immediate relief, and a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) on March 14, 2025, for 18 federal agencies. The Court later extended that order by five days such that it was set to expire on April 1, which would have resulted in devastating impacts on Maryland and the plaintiff states, as well as their probationary employees.
The PI extends the Court’s earlier order requiring the federal agencies to stop the unlawful mass firings and to give those employees their jobs back while the attorneys general litigate the case against the agencies. The PI ensures that for the remainder of the case, the following federal agencies cannot continue their unlawful conduct:
- Department of Agriculture
- Department of Commerce
- Department of Defense
- Department of Education
- Department of Energy
- Department of Health and Human Services
- Department of Homeland Security
- Department of Housing and Urban Development
- Department of Interior
- Department of Labor
- Department of Transportation
- Department of Treasury
- Department of Veterans Affairs
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
- Environmental Protection Agency
- Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
- General Services Administration
- Office of Personnel Management
- Small Business Administration
- United States Agency for International Development
Attorney General Brown was joined by the attorneys general of Minnesota, the District of Columbia, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai‛i, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin.