Alsup used nearly the same language Thursday morning. Ahead of the hearing, the plaintiffs had sought an injunction against an expanded list of defendants that included all 23 federal agencies that dismissed probationary staff. Alsup applied his ruling to the departments of Veteran Affairs, Agriculture, Defense, Interior and the Treasury, where the record of the unlawful OPM action “was the strongest,” he said. But he invited the plaintiffs to submit briefs making the case for tacking on other agencies.
“It’s a very conservative ruling, and a very strongly worded ruling by the judge,” said Peter Jenkins, a senior counsel for the nonprofit Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility who wasn’t involved in the case. “It was a great ruling.”