Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee joined a lawsuit seeking to block President Donald Trump from firing probationary federal employees.
U.S. District Judge William Alsup, a Clinton appointee, ordered the reinstatement of several probationary workers a day after Menefee announced the county was joining the effort.
According to reports, the acting head of the Office of Personnel Management, Charles Ezell did not testify in the case following Department of Justice guidance.
“The Trump Administration is really blowing up the federal government in a way that could be irreparable, and it sets a dangerous precedent,” Menefee told Houston Public Media.
“You don’t want a new president to come in and be able to relieve that many people in the federal government,” he added. “I think it’s part of President Trump’s authoritarian ambitions and it’s unfortunate.”
“Musk & Trump must be stopped” Menefee posted on X.
Menefee claimed the federal workforce reduction would disproportionally impact black and Latino individuals and called President Donald Trump’s efforts to manage employee headcount a “power grab.”
The lawsuit was originally filed by the American Federation of Government Employees and AFL-CIO. In Texas, El Paso County also joined the legal effort to stop the cuts.
According to the Pew Research Center, the federal government employs more than 3 million civilian workers—1.87 percent of the entire U.S. workforce.
The Trump administration has taken a multilayered approach to reducing the size of federal bureaucracy by offering buyouts, reducing the size of certain federal agencies, and cutting some probationary federal employees.
“It is the policy of my Administration to dramatically reduce the size of the Federal Government, while increasing its accountability to the American people,” stated Trump’s executive order that began the reduction of the federal government.
According to the Office for Personnel Management website, “An appointment is not final until the probationary period is over. Probationers have yet to demonstrate their fitness for the job.”
Last month, the Harris County Commissioners Court voted to give Menefee authority to take legal action against Trump’s layoffs without seeking approval from the court.
