The firing of 11 CIA agents who were told to resign, or else face termination, over their temporary positions with the spy agency’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Access programs was put on hold by a U.S. Judge on Tuesday, according to their lawyer.
Kevin Sullivan said that U.S. District Court Judge Anthony Trenga had issued a verbal stay of proceedings after a hearing, which he intended to document.
Trenga gave the government until Thursday to respond to Sullivan’s temporary restraining orders request.
“These people were fired because it was assumed that they were leftists,” said Sullivan himself, a former CIA agent undercover.
The CIA didn’t immediately respond to a comment request.
Administrative stays are not a decision on the merits, but rather an order to temporarily halt the action in dispute. This is to maintain the status quo and to give the courts time to examine legal arguments.
Sullivan said that his clients were among 51 CIA agents temporarily assigned to the DEIA program who have been placed on paid leave administratively two days after U.S. President Donald Trump issued a sweeping order on January 22, ending such programs throughout the government.
He said that the 51 officers had their badges “seized” and taken to a visitors’ center outside of the high-security perimeter of the agency in Langley, Virginia.
They were given three options that they were ordered to accept by 5 p.m. on Wednesday: retirement by October 1, resignation effective on Tuesday, or termination on May 20, according to copies of unclassified notices the officers were given.
The notices stated that if they did not make their decision by the deadline they would be terminated. One of the notices had space for both their signatures and a witness.
Sullivan claimed that the orders violated CIA procedures, Administrative Procedures Act as well as his client’s constitutional rights.
