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The government said in a court filing that Charles Ezell, who issued the memos that agencies interpreted as orders to fire thousands of employees, would not appear in court Thursday.

Two federal judges have handed down orders requiring President Donald Trump's administration to rehire thousands of probationary workers let go in mass firings across multiple agencies.

The Justice Department told a federal judge on Tuesday that the acting head of the Office of Personnel Management won’t testify at a hearing later this week in a major case challenging the government’s efforts to cull the federal workforce,

U.S. District Judge William Alsup said the Office of Personnel Management and its acting director, Charles Ezell, lacked the authority to direct the terminations.