A coalition of public service unions, environmental non-profits, and progressive advocacy organizations have filed a lawsuit against the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and its Acting Director challenging the mass firing of government probationary employees for pre-textual reasons. On February 14, 2025, Acting Director of OPM Charles Ezell issued a directive to all federal agencies across the country ordering them to fire all probationary employees under the pretense of "poor performance," except for those few probationary employees considered "mission critical." The OPM directive led to tens of thousands of federal employees being laid off, despite their employing agencies having no previous intention of firing them. These agencies confirmed that OPM had instructed the agencies to use false claims of poor performance to lay off probationary employees. The plaintiffs argued that OPM directive violates the Administrative Procedure Act by defying an act of Congress and improperly firing employees of federal agencies. The plaintiffs requested the court find OPM's directive unlawful and issue an injunction preventing further layoffs, as well as requiring agencies to rescind their previous terminations of probationary employees.
