Oregon Helps Reinstate Thousands of Federal Agency Employees Fired by Trump’s Surprise Order

Eighteen government-administered agencies have until 1 p.m. on Monday, 17 March 2025, to reinstate thousands of employees fired following an executive order by President Donald Trump.

Winning the Lawsuit was a Victory for the Coalition of 20 State Attorney Generals

This was a victory for a coalition of attorney generals from 20 states, including Oregon, who filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court of Maryland to stop the agencies from further action and to call on them to reinstate the thousands of employees who have lost their jobs.

A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) for the government-administered agencies to reinstate fired employees by 1 p.m. on Monday, 17 March 2025, and to stop mass layoffs of probationary employees.

AG Rayfield Says Trump Blindsided Oregon

Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield says the president ‘blindsided Oregon’ without giving state agencies the 60-day notice required by law.

Rayfield says the presidents jeopardized the financial security of employees, threatened the state’s economy, and risked Oregon’s ability to help the unemployed, calling the layoffs indiscriminate and unlawful.

The 18 federal agencies involved in the mass layoffs were the Departments of Education, Homeland Security, Energy, Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Health and Human Services, Interior, Defense, U.S. Agency for International Development, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Personnel Management, General Services Administration, Small Business Administration, and Internal Revenue Service.

Rayfield joined a coalition of attorney generals from Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin.