Trump's Mass Firings of Federal Workers Given Green Light by Judge

A federal judge in Washington has given the green light to President Donald Trump's mass firings of federal workers, allowing the layoffs to move forward. U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper decided that a motion from unions representing the workers to temporarily block the layoffs could not be granted.

Cooper found that the complaint amounted to an employment dispute and must follow a different process outlined in federal employment law. He acknowledged that Trump's second term has been defined by an onslaught of executive actions that have caused disruption and chaos, but wrote that judges are duty-bound to decide legal issues based on even-handed application of law and precedent.

The ruling comes as thousands of federal government employees have been shown the door during the first month of Trump's second administration. The administration argued in court that the unions failed to show that they were facing irreparable, immediate harm that would justify an emergency order stopping layoffs.

"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." - Doreen Greenwald, President of the National Treasury Employees' Union

The lawsuit is among more than 80 challenging a range of actions Trump has undertaken with his blitz of executive orders. Unions also filed a separate suit challenging mass firings in California this week.