A federal judge on Thursday ordered the Trump administration to bring back thousands of fired probationary employees, saying their ouster was illegal.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup, a Clinton appointee who sits in California, said the Office of Personnel Management had no authority to direct other agencies to fire the employees.

“It is sad, a sad day when our government would fire some good employee and say it was based on performance when they know good and well that’s a lie,” the judge said in ruling from the bench.

Probationary employees have been on the job less than a year or less than two years at some particular posts. Trump officials said they were easy targets because they hadn’t built years of experience critical to their agencies and, as probationary employees, lacked full civil service protection.

OPM issued a memo to departments telling them to review their lists of probationary employees and decide which ones to keep. Departments then carried out waves of firings.

The Trump administration argued that the firings were decisions made by the agencies, not at the specific direction of OPM. The termination notices cited employees’ performance.

Judge Alsup flatly rejected that, calling it a “gimmick” to try to skirt federal law. He said the cuts looked more like a reduction in force, which carries certain protections for workers.

He slammed the Justice Department’s handling of the case, complaining it wouldn’t allow OPM Director Charles Ezell to testify while the department withdrew his declaration from evidence in the case to keep him from the stand.

“I tend to doubt that you’re telling me the truth,” the judge told the government, calling the situation a “sham.”

His order covered employees in six departments: Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Interior, Energy, Defense and Treasury.

Government Executive said it figures some 24,000 workers will regain their jobs.

Other agencies could be added in later.

Judge Alsup also ordered the Trump administration to deliver compliance reports and ordered the government to let the plaintiffs depose Noah Peters, an OPM official, within the next two weeks.

The American Federation of Government Employees, which led the legal challenge, hailed the ruling as a blow to a president “hellbent on crippling federal agencies.”

“We are grateful for these employees and the critical work they do, and AFGE will keep fighting until all federal employees who were unjustly and illegally fired are given their jobs back,” said Everett Kelley, AFGE’s national president.

• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.