SAN FRANCISCO – The Trump administration's central human resources office acted illegally when it directed the mass firings of probationary workers as part of President Donald Trump's efforts to downsize the federal workforce, a judge has ruled.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup of San Francisco said Friday in awarding judgment to a coalition of labor unions and nonprofits that the U.S. Office of Personnel Management “unlawfully exceeded its own powers and usurped and exercised powers reserved by Congress to each individual” federal agency to hire and fire its own workers.

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He said the government “disagrees but does not persuade” in its defense that the office did not direct employment decisions, but merely offered guidance to other agencies.

“Judge Alsup’s decisio

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