Thousands of fired federal workers reinstated but not back to work: ‘Emotional whiplash’

Thousands of probationary federal workers who were reinstated and immediately placed on administrative leave due to recent court orders are stuck in limbo, uncertain if they will ever return to their duties as agencies prepare for another round of cuts ordered by President Donald Trump.

Two separate federal judges ordered the Trump administration to reinstate roughly 25,000 probationary employees who had been fired from 18 federal agencies, according to data provided to the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. The terminations were part of Trump’s efforts to downsize the federal bureaucracy, assisted by billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.