A federal appeals court signaled Tuesday that it may side with the Trump administration in a closely watched case over the mass firings of probationary federal employees, casting doubt on union-backed litigation aimed at reinstating them.

A three-judge panel on the United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit — Judges Morgan Christen, a former President Barack Obama appointee, Daniel Bress, a President Donald Trump appointee, and Lawrence VanDyke, also a Trump appointee — heard arguments over whether federal employee unions can challenge the dismissals in district court or must instead pursue claims through the government’s internal labor system. The judges repeatedly pressed attorneys on whether the unions had legal standing to bring their lawsuit and whether the lower cour

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