(Washington, D.C., March 11, 2025) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released the following statement today regarding the status of probationary employees:
“On Wednesday, March 5, the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) issued a 45-day stay on the termination of U.S. Department of Agriculture probationary employees. By Wednesday, March 12, the Department will place all terminated probationary employees in pay status and provide each with back pay, from the date of termination. The Department will work quickly to develop a phased plan for return-to-duty, and while those plans materialize, all probationary employees will be paid.”
Update, as of Wednesday, March 19, 2025:
On March 13, 2025, in the case of American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO, et al. v. OPM, et al., Civil Action No. 3:25-cv-01780, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California issued a preliminary injunction and determined that USDA’s termination of probationary employees, on or about February 13, 2025 and February 14, 2025, was unlawful, although there are appeals pending. As part of a phased plan for the terminated probationary employees to return-to-duty, they have temporarily been placed on paid administrative leave. The probationary employees have been restored to the respective employment status they each held prior to their termination. USDA is paying each probationary employee any commensurate back pay, from the respective date of termination. USDA is acting diligently to complete the administrative steps related to notifying the probationary employees of their reinstatement, ascertaining whether some of the probationary employees choose to resign, processing the reinstatements for purposes of all relevant USDA record systems, and returning the reinstated employees to duty status.
Update: In compliance with an order from the Northern District of California, in May 2025, USDA sent a written statement directly to USDA probationary employees terminated as part of the 2025 government-wide mass termination.
On May 9, 2025, the District Court for the Northern District of California granted a nationwide temporary restraining order (TRO). The TRO prohibits USDA and other federal agencies “from taking any actions to implement or enforce sections 3(c) and 3(e) of Executive Order 14210 or the February 26, 2025 OMB/OPM Memorandum.”
In compliance with the District Court for the Northern District of California, USDA will not take the following actions during the TRO: (1) further approval of Agency RIF and Reorganization Plans (“ARRPs”) or waivers of statutorily-mandated RIF notice periods by OMB and OPM; (2) implement any further orders by DOGE to agencies to cut programs or staff in conjunction with implementing the Executive Order, the OMB/OPM Memorandum, or the ARRPs; (3) any further implementation of the Executive Order, the OMB/OPM Memorandum, or ARRPs by Federal Agency Defendants, including but not limited to: execution of any existing RIF notices (including final separation of employees), issuance of any further RIF notices, placement of employees on administrative leave, and transfer of functions or programs between the agency defendants.
The Court granted the TRO on May 9, 2025 and it expires, unless extended, on May 23, 2025.
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