OMAHA (DTN) -- A ruling handed down Wednesday ordering USDA to return roughly 5,700 employees back to work has yet another plot twist because President Trump is pressing to fire both the board chair who ruled in favor of the USDA employees and the special counsel who pressed the case on their behalf.

Cathy Harris, chair of the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), issued an order Wednesday requiring USDA to bring back the fired workers to their jobs for at least the next 45 days while the board continues its investigation.

Yet, Harris' order came down just a day after a U.S. District Judge had ruled the Trump administration could not fire her. U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras had ruled on Tuesday that Harris could remain on the board for the rest of her term, which expires in 2028. Contreras had ruled President Trump had not shown he was removing Harris for neglecting her duties or malfeasance. The Trump administration had moved to fire Harris in early February.

Until now, the Merit Systems Protection Board was relatively obscure. It's an independent agency that protects federal employees from wrongful termination, retaliation and political interference. With mass terminations, the board and who oversees it are now major issues.

The Justice Department appealed Contreras' ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, and the case is likely expected to head to the Supreme Court.

The MSPB granted the temporary stay in job terminations following a case brought by the Office of Special Counsel, led by Hampton Dellinger. In a similar scenario, Dellinger is also fighting for his own job. Like Harris, a district court judge had blocked the president from firing Dellinger. However, even as Dellinger was praising the decision on behalf of the 5,700 or so USDA employees, judges from the D.C. Court of Appeals granted a stay on the lower court's ruling. Dellinger and the Trump administration will now file briefs in the appeals case.

According to the Washington Post, Dellinger said, "I'm not the Special Counsel as of now."

Dellinger had brought the USDA case on behalf of a U.S. Forest Service employee who was still in his probationary period -- meaning he had worked in his position for less than two years. The Office of Special Counsel alleged USDA leadership engaged in a prohibited practice by sending identical termination letters to every probationary employee saying they were fired based on performance issues.

Dellinger's office pointed to guidance from the White House Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to terminate all probationary employees not designated as "mission critical." The Office of Special Counsel asserted the probationary employees were not fired based on their individual job performance, "but rather because they were performing functions that the Government wished to eliminate." The Office of Special Counsel said the terminations were not due to performance but instead resembled a mass restructuring of the Department of Agriculture.

The firings were part of a sweeping move by the Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk.

The board, led by Harris, ordered all probationary employees at USDA who had been terminated since Feb. 13 to be included in the stay, which extends to April 18.

USDA on Monday provided the Office of Special Counsel a list of 5,692 employees who were terminated during their probationary periods. USDA had earlier indicated that 5,950 employees were let go, but the department had already rehired some staff "due to corrections, rehirings, and changes to mission-critical designations."

The order did not detail breakdowns by individual agencies. Initial reports after the firings highlighted that 3,400 employees worked for the U.S. Forest Service. DTN also learned there were roughly 1,100 probationary employees were dismissed by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).

Under the MSPB order, all probationary employees who had received the same termination letter shall be returned to the jobs they held prior to the firings.

USDA's press office did not respond to DTN about the board's ruling.

During a press conference Sunday at Commodity Classic in Denver, Agriculture Secretary Rollins was asked about whether USDA was revisiting some of the job cuts that took place as many of them left USDA research labs and facilities understaffed as a result. Rollins acknowledged the job cuts had been "an extremely aggressive effort and there will be mistakes made and there have been mistakes made." She pointed to the firings, and rehiring, of researchers working on avian influenza as one of those mistakes.

"That is a really important part of this as we are moving at Trump speed and there will be some mistakes made and we will fully take responsibility for it and recognize when that happens," Rollins told reporters.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., ranking member of the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee, called for USDA to comply with the order and said the decision to reinstate the employees "is an important but temporary step" to help ensure USDA serves farmers and rural communities.

"It is one thing to institute reforms. It is another to gut services and stop or delay work on avian flu, wildfires, rural hospitals and infrastructure projects, farm loans, and disaster relief," Klobuchar said. "USDA should immediately comply with this order."

Before the ruling on his own termination, Dellinger on Wednesday applauded the stay granted by the MSPB. Dellinger said all federal agencies should adhere to the ruling on USDA.

"I want to thank the MSPB for granting this important stay," Dellinger said. "Agencies are best positioned to determine the employees impacted by these mass terminations. That's why I am calling on all federal agencies to voluntarily and immediately rescind any unlawful terminations of probationary employees."

Dellinger added: "The Office of Personnel Management recently clarified that 'Agencies have ultimate decision-making authority over, and responsibility for, such personnel actions.' My agency will continue to investigate and take appropriate action on prohibited personnel practices including improper terminations of probationary employees. Voluntarily rescinding these hasty and apparently unlawful personnel actions is the right thing to do and avoids the unnecessary wasting of taxpayer dollars."

Also see, "USDA Cuts Stretch Across Nation's Top Research Labs to Small, Urban Farmers Markets," https://www.dtnpf.com/…

Chris Clayton can be reached at Chris.Clayton@dtn.com

Follow him on social platform X @ChrisClaytonDTN

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