Trump Fired ‘Political Enemies,’ Federal Workers Say in Suit (2)

The Trump Administration illegally pushed out nonpartisan federal employees who worked on diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, trampling on their First Amendment rights, a Wednesday lawsuit alleges.

It’s normal for priorities to change when a new president comes to power, but the reductions in force affecting these workers were “targeted actions intended to punish perceived political enemies,” former employees said in the proposed class action filed in the US District Court for the District of Columbia. The administration’s anti-DEI executive orders also discriminated against women, nonbinary people, and people of color, the complaint said.

Fired federal workers have sued the administration frequently over its widespread layoffs. But the newly-filed lawsuit opens a new line of attack, alleging the administration discriminated against workers by targeting them for termination over their political beliefs.

The four workers leading the suit allege they lost their jobs because they served in—or the administration perceived them as serving in—DEI-related roles at some time during their time in government. “President Trump made clear his disdain for ‘DEI,’ a term he used pejoratively but never defined, associating it with political ideologies he disfavored,” the complaint said.

“Firing non-partisan federal workers for their perceived political beliefs—based upon their performing their job duties under the policies of the prior Administration—not only strips the federal government of skilled, competent professionals, but also tramples on those employees’ constitutional and statutory rights,” according to the suit, which also alleges violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The workers seek reinstatement, back pay, restored federal service seniority, and attorneys’ fees, among other things.

The Trump administration has maintained its legal right to terminate large swaths of the federal workforce.

“As the head of the Executive Branch, President Trump has the lawful authority and mandate to prevent unlawful spending on unconstitutional endeavors, which includes making the staffing decisions required to properly implement this directive,” said Abigail Jackson, a White House spokeswoman, in a statement Wednesday.

The Justice Department declined to comment. The CIA, Defense Department, Federal Reserve, Labor Department, and Treasury Department are among the other defendants in the suit.

Political Targets

Federal courts have temporarily blocked portions of Trump’s anti-DEI orders in other challenges. But those suits have been more focused on whether the administration overstepped its authority, or if it imposed unconstitutionally vague mandates on recipients of federal money.

Trump has attempted to fire tens of thousands of federal workers since he took office, though some terminations are currently paused by the courts. There are now around 97,000 fewer people working for the federal government than there were in January, according to a Bureau of Labor Statistics statement.

Wednesday’s suit is a rare class action filed by federal workers challenging Trump administration workforce firings. Unions have largely led the charge, though following a US Supreme Court decision curbing the use of universal injunctions, a pivot towards federal workforce class actions was predicted.

The new lawsuit is also unusual among Trump-era federal workforce challenges in that it relies heavily on Title VII to argue the administration discriminated against certain employees by enacting layoffs.

The complaint said the executive orders “went beyond ridding the government of DEI roles” and instead targeted individual employees for their “perceived political beliefs” or association with the Democratic party, or their protected racial or gender groups.

The layoffs from the anti-DEI orders led to targeted termination that included substantially more women or nonbinary workers and an over-selection of people of color, the suit said.

Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein LLP; Kalijarvi, Chuzi, Newman & Fitch PC; and ACLU of DC represent the workers.

The case is Fell v. Trump, D.D.C., No. 1:25-cv-04206, complaint filed 12/3/25.