A judge ruled their firings were illegal. The government got to do it anyway

More than six months after being terminated from her job with the federal government, Jessie Beck got the news she'd been hoping for — sort of.

On Sept. 12, U.S. District Judge William Alsup issued his final decision in a case challenging the Trump administration's mass firings of probationary employees, mostly those in their first year or two on the job.

In a 38-page order , Alsup wrote that the terminations, dating back to February, were unlawful. But he stopped short of requiring the government to reinstate workers. It was clear to him, he explained, that the Supreme Court would overrule such relief given recent decisions the court had issued on related matters. He also wrote that too much time had passed.

"The terminated probationary employees have moved on with their lives and fo