BALTIMORE — A federal judge in Maryland suggested Wednesday that he might direct that thousands of fired federal workers get their jobs back, at least temporarily, after hearing arguments that their layoffs were unlawful.

“This case isn’t about whether or not the government can terminate people. It’s about if they decide to terminate people, how they must do it,” U.S. District Judge James Bredar said at the hearing on the abrupt firings of thousands of probationary employees. The government has let go roughly 200,000 probationary employees — workers who are either recent hires or had taken new positions.

“Move fast and break things,” Bredar, referring to a seminal quote from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg that has been used to describe Elon Musk’s efforts to shrink the size of the federal workforce. “Move fast, fine. Break things? If that involves breaking the law, then that becomes problematic,” the judge said.

A coalition of states with Democratic attorneys general urged Bredar to sign a temporary restraining order that would restore the status quo from before the firings, which they maintain were illegal — meaning the fired workers would get their jobs back. The states argue the move is necessary because the government ignored proper procedure for the mass termination of federal employees, known as a “reduction in force.”

Under a RIF, “agencies are required to provide advance notice to affected employees and, in circumstances relevant here, to states and local governments. An employee ‘may not be released’ as part of a RIF ‘unless’ they receive 60 days’ ‘written notice’ that provides information on reemployment and career transition assistance,” among other requirements, the states contended in a court filing.

The lack of notice has left the states scrambling to help the affected employees, said Virginia Williamson, speaking on behalf of the 21 states.

‘The states have to act now, because people are suddenly unemployed now,” Williamson said.

The government’s lawyer, Eric Hamilton, denied the firings were a RIF.

“It was a termination of probationary employees,” Hamilton said.

The judge asked him how many had been fired, and Hamilton said he could not give him a number. Asked if it was more than 100, Hamilton said, “I would imagine so.” Asked if it was over 1,000, he said he didn’t know.

“Does anyone in the government know?” the judge pressed.

“I don’t know,” Hamilton replied.

In a court filing last week, the plaintiffs estimated that at least 24,000 probationary employees had already been fired “and that more terminations are expected any day.”

Hamilton urged the judge to reject the states’ request for a temporary restraining order, arguing they didn’t have legal standing to bring a claim. “This is not the sort of dispute designed for federal courts,” Hamilton said, noting that courts refused to take action in two similar cases brought by the workers’ unions. 

The judge repeatedly expressed skepticism that the firings were not a RIF, and said he would issue a written ruling “promptly.”

In a related ruling late last month, a federal judge in California found that instructions from the Office of Personnel Management to fire the probationary workers were “illegal” and should be rescinded, but did not order the reinstatement of the dismissed employees. The instructions were officially rescinded last week.

The government has also argued that affected employees can take their wrongful firing claims to the Merit Systems Protection Board.

Last week, that federal civil service board found that the firing of over 5,000 probationary employees from the Department of Agriculture may have been unlawful and directed that the employees be restored to their jobs for at least 45 days.

Following the initial firings of probationary workers, the administration late last month also informed agencies to prepare for “large-scale reductions in force” of the rest of the federal workforce.  The Education Department announced Tuesday it plans to cut about half of its staff.  

Gary Grumbach reported from Baltimore, and Dareh Gregorian from New York.