United States: New York Attorney General joined nineteen other states in submitting a lawsuit on Thursday evening against the Trump administration’s federal workforce termination practices, which constitutes the first state entry into bureaucratic reduction litigation, as reported by Reuters.
The Allegations: Unlawful Dismissals
Through a joint lawsuit filed at the Maryland federal court along with California, Arizona, Colorado, and other states led by Democrats – the complaint accuses President Donald Trump of unlawful discharge of tens of thousands of federal employees. Through this petition, they request the court to give back the dismissed workers their jobs while demanding an immediate end to illegal employee terminations.
The Republican President Trump also faces legal challenges from federal employees who were terminated alongside recent court losses because he and Tesla CEO Elon Musk combined forces against waste and fraud in government functions.
The Trump Admin’s mass firings of veterans, public health workers, and other dedicated public servants are callous and reckless.
— Attorney General Matt Platkin (@NewJerseyOAG) March 7, 2025
But these mass firings of federal probationary employees are also illegal, and harm NJ residents.
That is why we are taking the Trump Admin to court. pic.twitter.com/MzFJEAADhk
Violation of Federal Employment Laws
The states filed a legal complaint on Thursday, which argues that the Trump administration broke federal notification laws and fired federal employees without proper grounds during mass layoffs.
“The Trump administration’s illegal mass firings of federal workers are a slap in the face to those who have spent their careers serving our country,” New York Attorney General Letitia said in a statement.
Recent Court Rulings Favor Federal Workers
A judge from a parallel lawsuit issued an order on February 27 that prevented the Trump administration from firing mass numbers of employees at the U.S. Department of Defense and other departments, as reported by Reuters.
Judge Stephanie Rose issued an order on March 6 which returned a Democratic member of the National Labor Relations Board to their position after Trump had terminated them. The U.S. Department of Agriculture experienced a board-controlled workforce reinstatement which restored all workers fired during the previous day.
