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Following a new ruling, the US government’s cyber security watchdog, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), is desperate to get in contact with the over 130 now-former staff who were recently axed by the Trump administration.
Last month, in what staff call the “Valentine’s Day Massacre”, over 4 per cent of CISA’s staff were fired via email by the Trump administration, telling them that they were “not fit for continued employment because your ability, knowledge and skills do not fit the agency’s current needs”.
Now, however, US District Judge James Bredar ruled that the mass terminations, which affected a number of agencies as well as CISA, were unlawful and issued a temporary restraining order that instructed the Trump administration to restore positions for federal probationary employees, as in those who were hired or promoted within the last three years.
The ruling orders that probationary employees at the 18 government agencies, which include CISA, have their positions restored by 17 March. It is unclear if all positions have been restored.
Additionally, CISA has said that it is scrambling to contact those terminated to restore their positions but is facing issues as it does not have the contact information for all those cut or is not aware of every single member that was terminated.
“CISA is making every effort to individually contact all impacted individuals,” the message said, adding that fired employees who believe they fall under the court’s order to “please reach out”.
In a release no longer visible on its website, CISA asked staff to email in a “password-protected attachment that provides your full name, your dates of employment (including date of termination), and one other identifying factor such as date of birth or Social Security number”, as well as the password to the attachment.
As per the order, staff must be restored to either work their jobs or to be placed under administrative leave with full pay and benefits. CISA has confirmed that it is placing its restored staff on administrative leave.
The temporary restraining order is set to expire on 27 March.
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