WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court cleared the way Wednesday for President Donald Trump’s administration to fire thousands of probationary workers, halting a judge’s order requiring them to be reinstated in a legal win for Trump’s effort to downsize the federal workforce.

The decision comes a day after the Supreme Court also sided with the Trump administration in another lawsuit filed over mass firings.

A split panel for the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found the terminations of federal workers should probably be appealed through a separate employment process rather than fought out in federal court. Two judges appointed by Republican presidents sided with the administration, while a third Democratic appointed judge dissented.

The decision comes in a lawsuit filed by nearly two dozen states, who said the mass firings will cause irreparable burdens and expenses to support recently unemployed workers. They said at least 24,000 probationary employees have been terminated since Trump took office.

— The Associated Press