Democratic attorneys general challenge Trump’s mass federal layoffs, citing harm to their states

 

Democratic attorneys general challenge Trump’s mass federal layoffs, citing harm to their states

Democratic attorneys general from several states and the District of Columbia sued the Trump administration Thursday over the government’s mass layoffs of federal employees — layoffs, the challengers say, that are inflicting economic harm on their states.

Other legal challenges to the administration’s employee termination tactics have had only mixed success, as some judges have concluded that courts should not play a role in what they see as employment disputes. The Democratic attorneys general are arguing in their new case that, beyond the harm the layoffs are causing the employees themselves, the mass terminations are costing their states tax revenue.

The complaint estimates that, for the District of Columbia alone, the administration’s firing of probationary employees will cause “millions of dollars in lost annual income tax revenue.”

The states also argue that, because the administration is allegedly not following the proper procedures for the layoffs, states are having to “scramble and expend additional resources to identify even which agencies have conducted layoffs” so that they can offer unemployment insurance and other required benefits.

“Some Plaintiff States have also lost the benefit of services provided by federal employees embedded within state agencies, without any time to prepare,” the lawsuit said. It was filed in Maryland’s US District Court and has been assigned to Judge James Bredar, an appointee of former President Barack Obama.