Experts flagged an eyebrow-raising decision from the Trump administration in which it appeared to accept a court loss rather than have its head of the Office of Personnel Management testify.
President Donald Trump's administration is in court over the mass firing of probationary employees in the federal government who are new to the position. An employee may have been given a promotion in July and still be on a one-year probationary period.
Last month, some fired probationary employees said they were fired for "performance" issues, despite previously having "exceptional" reviews. Full civil service protections don't typically kick in until after two years in the position.
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As the case moves forward, Office of Personnel Management Director Charles Ezell has been called in to testify about the matter.
But Justice Department lawyers appear to be trying to avoid that.
WUSA's Jordan Fischer and Politico's senior legal affairs reporter Josh Gerstein both pointed out that the administration seems willing to take a loss in the case to avoid calling Ezell to give answers under oath.
"This is interesting," legal analyst and podcast network leader Allison Gill said. "Trump says he's willing to agree to a preliminary injunction if they can skip the hearing and testimony. Trump would rather appeal the preliminary injunction [than] have agency heads testify under oath."
It has been less than a week since court records revealed "Ezell may be refusing to appear in front of Judge [William] Alsup next week as ordered," said Senior Immigration Council fellow Aaron Reichlin-Melnick on Wednesday.
When he came into office, Trump created the Department of Government Efficiency initiative by executive order. That initiative has been behind the upheaval and dismantling of government agencies, including the mass firing of those probationary employees. Websites, grants, programs, and employees have been cut or frozen under the promise that Trump will save taxpayers trillions.