OPM chief rejects court order to testify on probationary firings as case expands governmentwide
Source: GovExec.com
(OPM guy says he won’t testify in court, disobeying judge)
Washington DC.- A federal judge has ordered the acting head of the Office of Personnel Management to testify at a court hearing examining the legality of the Trump administration’s mass firings of federal employees, but the key workforce official has informed the court he will ignore the order.
Acting OPM Director Charles Ezell was slated to appear in a U.S. District Court in San Francisco on Thursday after Judge William Alsup ruled Monday on Monday that he must do so, but he will now face a to-be-determined sanction. The Trump administration had sought to block his testimony, saying it would raise constitutional concerns, but the judge rejected the argument. Ezell has already submitted written testimony, Alsup said, and now must be subject to cross examination.
After initial publication of this story, the Trump administration Tuesday evening informed the court Ezell would not testify and withdrew his written declaration suggesting he did not order the probationary firings across government. It called live testimony "not necessary" for Ezell or any other official. The plaintiffs in the case are seeking testimony from human resources personnel throughout government.
Alsup has already issued a preliminary ruling in favor of the American Federation of Government Employees and other groups that brought the lawsuit, finding OPM illegally ordered the firings of employees in their probationary periods—mostly those hired in the last one or two years—and demanding the agency rescind those directives. Only a handful of agencies were impacted by the temporary restraining order and implementation has varied. The Defense Department was a named defendant in the case but has continued to fire employees, while other named agencies have not yet recalled any staff.
The judge this week has also allowed AFGE to amend its complaint to significantly expand the breadth of the case. It now includes all cabinet departments and eight large agencies, leaving the door open to sweeping judicial action that could impact vast swaths of the federal government. Roughly 30,000 employees have been fired to date.
Read more: https://www.govexec.com/workforce/2025/03/opm-chief-compelled-testify-probationary-firings-case-expands-governmentwide/403663/?oref=ge-featured-river-secondary
If they won’t obey a judges order, can’t we just arrest them ourselves?
= new reply since forum marked as read
