A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration’s bid to fire intelligence agency employees who recently worked on DEI programs.
Legal Protection for CIA and ODNI Staffers
U.S. District Judge Anthony Trenga issued a preliminary injunction Monday requiring that the affected staffers at the CIA and Office of Director of National Intelligence remain on the payroll while they appeal their terminations and seek reassignment to open positions at their agencies.
Ruling on Employee Dismissals
Ruling from the bench in his courtroom in Alexandria, Virginia, Trenga said CIA Director John Ratcliffe had made clear that the employees, who faced a 5 p.m. deadline Monday to resign or be fired, were being dismissed under a “reduction in force” and that gave the employees certain protections.
“The plaintiffs face termination without any suggestion of wrongdoing or poor performance,” said Trenga, an appointee of President George W. Bush. “Simply requiring the government to follow its regulations is a minimal burden.”
Legal Considerations and Future Steps
Trenga didn’t rule out allowing the intelligence agencies to fire the staffers eventually, but he said they could not do so until he gets “a report” on the outcome of the internal appeals and on the consideration of the employees for other jobs at their agencies.
Lawyers for the Trump administration argued that Ratcliffe and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard could fire the intelligence employees if they determine the dismissals are “in the interests of the United States.” That’s a rarely invoked power typically used in cases involving a counterintelligence or espionage threat that the government may not want to explain further.
“It’s a happy day for the plaintiffs and for the intelligence community of the United States, if these talented and experienced patriots have the opportunity to continue to serve our country,” said Kevin Carroll, an attorney for 19 CIA and ODNI employees who filed suit last month.
It was not immediately clear whether Trenga’s order covered only the 19 officials who joined the suit or all CIA and ODNI workers in DEI positions who were abruptly put on administrative leave in January. After delivering his ruling orally, the judge said he’d release a written order soon.
Carroll said he believes 51 CIA employees and 7 ODNI staffers were told last month that their positions were being eliminated and they were being terminated without the chance to transfer to other jobs.
Emotional Courtroom Scene
Several of the plaintiffs present in the courtroom Monday looked surprised as the judge delivered his order. One of them used a tissue to dab tears from her eyes.
Carroll said several of the plaintiffs in the case, all of whom are identified by pseudonyms in court filings, have asked their agencies whether they could speak to the media but haven’t received permission.
Before Trenga’s ruling, Assistant U.S. Attorney Dennis Barghaan, who was heckled by some of the affected employees following a hearing last month, pressed the government’s argument that intelligence community leaders have broad power to restructure their agencies without following typical procedures. The special intelligence-agency authority to summarily fire employees “does not need to be a national security rationale,” Barghaan said.
Implications of Trump’s Executive Order
Carroll said the case went beyond the ordinary federal hiring-or-firing dispute because the intelligence agencies linked the dismissals of the DEI-focused staffers to an executive order President Donald Trump issued on his first day in office. In the order, Trump referred to the programs as “illegal and immoral discrimination.” That made the planned dismissals more damaging and has already undermined the employees’ prospects to find other jobs, the attorney said.
“The plaintiffs here have all been defamed by a shotgun blast of statements from the president of the United States,” Carroll said. “It was on the front page of the New York Times and the Washington Post. The government cannot unring the bell here.”
Judge’s Call for Reconsideration
Last month, Trenga turned down a similar request from the intelligence agency employees for emergency relief, but he said he hoped Ratcliffe and Gabbard would consider the staffers’ appeals to hold on to their jobs, and he noted the long service many had given to the country.
“It’s a disappointment that we’re here again, frankly,” the judge said Monday before he delivered his ruling.
Spokespeople for CIA and ODNI did not respond to requests for comment on the judge’s ruling.
