Rehired Federal Workers Could Be Out of a Job Again Soon

Judges have ordered the Trump administration to rehire thousands of probationary employees it fired, but those jobs aren't safe yet. The administration is appealing the rulings, and Axios reports those being rehired now could be the first ones out soon—through another court ruling or the next round of layoffs. In fact, Trump aides have told agencies to step up their job cuts. Reinstated employees aren't trusting that they won't be cut loose again, including one a veteran with PTSD who was restored to the Department of Transportation and cites mental health strain. "I'm thrilled, but only to a limit," the staff member said. "There's always a feeling it's going to be taken away again." Here are some of the strategies being pursued:

• Rehiring: US District Court in Maryland were told this week by 18 agencies that they're in the middle of rehiring more than 24,000 probationary workers, a majority of the total fired. Most of the agencies reported putting the returned employees on administrative leave, per NPR, but offered no information about whether they'll go back to work.
• The problems with that: It's costing money to onboard workers again. The process costs more for government agencies than for private companies, given the need for security clearances and wait for equipment such as laptops. Efficiency is hurt because human resources and administrative employees are among those fired. "Every task takes forever," said a Veterans Affairs supervisor. And employees who fear losing their jobs again aren't spending money the way they usually would, an economist said, dinging the economy. "We really ramped down our spending to just the essentials," said a worker returning to the Commerce Department.
• The leave issue: While one judge's temporary restraining order said the administration can either put the employees back to work or put them on paid leave, the other said leave isn't good enough. "This is not allowed by the preliminary injunction, for it would not restore the services the preliminary injunction intends to restore," the ruling said, per NPR. That applies to the Departments of Agriculture, Defense, Energy, Interior, Treasury, and Veterans Affairs. The administration answered that leave is just the first step toward full reinstatement, but it didn't say what or when the next steps would be.

• States see a hiring pool: Pennsylvania has 6,000 state jobs open, including positions for registered nurses, civil engineers, and accountants. Gov. Josh Shapiro signed an executive order telling state agencies to consider federal experience equal to state experience on resumes. "If they're qualified and they want to serve Pennsylvanians, well, hear me on this—we want you on our team," Shapiro told NPR. Hawaii Gov. Josh Green and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul have issued similar invitations.
• Online community: Federal employees facing many questions are finding answers and empathy from each other on Reddit. The 20-year-old, text-heavy social media site has added millions of visitors since January, the New York Times reports, and is now one of the busiest places on the internet. Its more than 60,000 unpaid moderators are swamped; among the content they look out for is suicidal thoughts. Artificial intelligence may take more control soon, but for now, users like that they can post on Reddit "and get this really quick individualized feedback from an actual human," said a researcher. The Times has a look at how Reddit is working for federal employees here.

(More federal employees stories.)