With the Trump administration giving Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) carte blanche to shrink the federal government, multiple agencies in charge of everything from aviation to education and social security have been thrown into chaos.
One of the biggest sledgehammerings took place on February 14 when over 10,000 workers across different government departments including the Federal Aviation Administration were suddenly laid off.
Don’t miss the move: SIGN UP for TheStreet’s FREE Daily news
‘A win for public safety and a critical workforce’
On March 13, U.S. District Judge James Bredar ordered the administration to reinstate the 24,000 federal workers laid off since Trump was inaugurated in January.
This week, the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists (PASS) union confirmed that the 132 aviation workers who were affected by the purge would be returning to work and receiving back pay for the days they were laid off. They officially return to active duty status on March 20.
Related: National park workers fired during government purge must get their jobs back
“This is a win for public safety and for a critical workforce dedicated to the FAA’s mission,” PASS President David Spero said in a statement.
While the current administration has been keeping details around which roles were cut intentionally in the dark, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has previously defended the cuts to the FAA by saying that only 352 probationary employees out of over 45,000 were affected and none were in what he classified as “safety critical” positions.
‘Eliminating positions and encouraging resignations creates a demoralizing effect’: union president
The status of the FAA workers not represented by the PASS union remains unclear.
More on travel:
Trump starts presidency with three executive orders affecting travelGovernment issues new travel advisory on popular beach destinationAnother country just issued a new visa requirement for visitors
Spero further said that the 132 employees were terminated “without cause nor based on performance or conduct” while “haphazardly eliminating positions and encouraging resignations creates a demoralizing effect on the workforce.”
“All parts of this aviation ecosystem work together to accomplish a critical goal — the safety of the American flying public,” he said when testifying before a United States House Transportation and Infrastructure Aviation subcommittee on March 4.
Air traffic controllers, in particular, have been the subject of national attention amid accidents like the fatal crash between a commercial plane and military Black Hawk helicopter on Jan. 29; while Duffy has repeatedly spoken of plans to start a hiring rush, multiple administrations have struggled to hit hiring rates due to the stringent training requirements and demanding nature of the role.
Bredar’s ruling also affects 3,400 U.S. Forest Service and 1,000 National Park Service probationary workers who were fired last Valentine’s Day. A concurrent ruling by U.S. District Judge William Alsup also ordered for these employees to be immediately reinstated in an ongoing legal battle over Trump’s sudden and in many cases questionable orders that have uprooted the lives of tens of thousands of government employees.
“I am absolutely heartbroken and completely devastated to have lost my dream job of an Education Park Ranger with the National Park Service this Valentine’s Day,” park ranger Brian Gibbs wrote in a post that ended up going viral. “Access to my government email was denied mid-afternoon and my position was ripped out from out under my feet after my shift was over at 3:45 p.m. on a cold snowy Friday.”
Related: Veteran fund manager issues dire S&P 500 warning for 2025
