The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit sided with the government to block a lower-court ruling that had led to the reinstatement of thousands of federal workers.

A federal appeals court has cleared the way for President Donald Trump’s administration to fire thousands of probationary workers, halting a judge’s order requiring them to be reinstated. A split panel for the 4th U.

The decision was in response to a lawsuit from nearly two dozen states alleging the Trump administration violated federal law by not following common procedure when firing thousands of employees.

A U.S. judge on Thursday allowed the Trump administration to go ahead with a plan to make immigrants illegally living in or entering the United States register with the federal government or face fines or imprisonment.

The administration’s refusal to comply with a judge’s directives threatened to erupt into a showdown between the executive and judicial branches.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed directives targeting two former government officials who criticized him during his first term, calling one of them a traitor and saying they should be investigated.