A federal judge Tuesday indefinitely barred the Trump administration from terminating thousands of probationary employees, but he declined to extend his order nationwide.

U.S. District Judge James Bredar previously ordered officials to temporarily reinstate probationary employees fired at 18 agencies, no matter where they physically worked.

Replacing that order, the judge’s new preliminary injunction covers two additional agencies, the Defense Department and the Office of Personnel Management. But it simultaneously limits the reinstatements to only those employees whose “duty station” is within Washington, D.C., and the 19 states that are suing.

“Only states have sued here, and only to vindicate their interests as states. They are not proxies for the workers,” wrote Bredar, an........

© The Hill