There are an estimated 200,000 probationary workers — generally employees who have less than a year on the job — across federal agencies.

A federal judge ruled that the terminations at agencies including the Department of Defense were probably illegal.

A federal judge in San Francisco on Thursday found that the mass firings of probationary employees were likely unlawful, granting some temporary relief to a coalition of labor unions and organizations that has sued to stop the Trump administration’s massive trimming of the federal workforce.