A federal judge ordered the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) to reinstate mediators and other staff who had been fired or placed on leave since Donald Trump was sworn in as president in January. At the beginning of the year, FMCS employed approximately 143 mediators and 60 other employees. Then in mid-February the FMCS, along with many other agencies, terminated probationary employees under orders from the White House. A court ordered FMCS and other agencies to reinstate the fired probationary employees, but a higher court later overrode that order. The federal agencies filed a motion to pause the reinstatements while they appealed the judge’s ruling, but that motion was denied June 5.