A federal judge Thursday morning rebuked the Trump administration for allegedly lying about the mass firing of government employees and submitting "sham documents" to defend their conduct.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup slammed a Department of Justice attorney for refusing to make Office of Personnel Management Acting Director Charles Ezell available for cross-examination and withdrawing his sworn declaration.

"The government, I believe, has tried to frustrate the judge's ability to get at the truth of what happened here, and then set forth sham declarations," Alsup, a former President Bill Clinton appointee, said. "That's not the way it works in the U.S. District Court."

Lawyers representing a group of unions and interest groups are now asking Alsup to immediately reinstate thousands of probationary government employees who had been terminated, allegedly at the direction of Ezell.

"There is a mountain of evidence before the court that OPM directed it. OPMs actions were unlawful. The plaintiffs have standing, and there is a reparable harm that is occurring every minute, and it is snowballing," said the plaintiff's attorney Danielle Leonard.

Alsup suggested there might be a "need" for an injunction ordering the reinstatement of the employees based on the government's recent conduct.

The judge continued to bash the government for submitting a declaration from Ezell he believed to be false, then withdrew it and made Ezell unavailable for testimony.

While Alsup originally suggested the avenue to contest the firings could be administrative, he noted that the Trump administration is attempting to "decimate" and "cannibalize" the Merit Systems Protection Board by firing its head and Special Counsel Hampton Dellinger.

-ABC News' Peter Charalambous

A new CNN/SSRS poll asked respondents how they think President Donald Trump's federal program cuts will impact either their family, the economy, or where they live.

Fifty-one percent said they thought the cuts will hurt them and their family, while 22% said it will help and 27% said neither. Among those that said it will help or hurt them or their families, 29% said the cuts already have impacted them while 71% said not yet.

Plus, 55% of Americans surveyed believed the cuts would hurt the economy overall, while 34% said they believed they would help the economy.

-ABC News' Oren Oppenheim

An overwhelming majority -- 72% -- of Americans are rating current economic conditions as poor, according to a new CNN/SSRS poll.

Americans are split on whether conditions will improve a year from now. About half of Americans -- 49% -- indicated feeling pessimistic about economic conditions then.

Americans are feeling more negative than they were months ago, when comparing this response to CNN's January 2025 poll, which found a majority thought economy conditions would be better within a year: 56% thought conditions would be good a year from now, while 44% thought they would be poor.

-ABC News' Oren Oppenheim

Russian Presidential Aide Yuri Ushakov announced Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin won't be talking with President Donald Trump Thursday about negotiations to end the conflict in Ukraine.

Instead, Putin will meet with Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff for a closed door meeting, according to Ushakov.

-ABC News' Will Gretsky