The U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board has temporarily blocked President Donald Trump‘s firings of approximately 5,900 probationary employees at the U.S. Department of Agriculture who have been booted since he took office in January.

In a stay issued on Wednesday by embattled MSPB member Cathy Harris, who has been fighting for her job herself, the board condemned the terminations as “planned eliminations” and violations of “personnel practice.”

“I find that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the agency engaged in a prohibited personnel practice,” Harris wrote in the MSPB order, noting how Biden ethics enforcer Hampton Dellinger — who is battling Trump’s Justice Department in federal court over his firing at the Office of Special Counsel — provided findings from an OSC investigation on the USDA removals this week that “reasonably” alleges and outlines personnel violations by the Trump administration.

Harris said the board believed there were “reasonable grounds” to stay the firings for 45 days while MSPB members continue to investigate, on account of there being so many people involved.

“Because there is a possibility that additional individuals, not specifically named in the agency’s response, may be affected by these probationary terminations, and given the assertions made in OSC’s initial stay request and the deference to which we afford OSC in the context of an initial stay request, I find that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the agency terminated the aforementioned probationary employees in violation of (civil service laws),” Harris explained.

An Indiana man has allegedly threatened to “gut” billionaire and Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) head Elon Musk and parade his “corpse through the streets.”

David Allen June Cherry, 28, is facing a count of intimidation, a felony, the Indiana State Police said in a Facebook post. As Law&Crime previously reported, the investigation began Feb. 18 when authorities in Texas contacted their counterparts in the Hoosier State about an X account tied to Cherry that allegedly made threats toward Musk earlier this month.

More coverage from Law&Crime: ‘Unlawful distraction’: Trump, Musk demand that federal employees share ‘5 bullets of what you accomplished’ is ‘illegal’ and ‘disruptive to essential government functions,’ unions say

Cops identified a series of posts on X earlier over the last few months under the account @effective_pawn. The posts were mostly replying to Musk’s tweets and are as follows (all times Central Standard Time):

Dec. 6 at 5:21 p.m.: We’re gunning you down, Muskrat.

Jan. 22 at 11:30 p.m.: I’ve got enough bullets for his b—- a– and all the rest of you manchildren [in a reply to Andrew Tate]

Feb. 3 at 3:01 p.m.: You’ve broken the law. You’re on the hit list.

Feb. 3 at 3:22 p.m.: You’re robbing the American people. We will gut you and parade your corpse through the streets.

Feb. 26 at 3:47 p.m.: I am going to plant a bomb in Elon Musk’s house

After receiving the X posts, troopers obtained an search warrant to “ping” Cherry’s phone. It showed he was located in the area of Veterans Parkway and Sam Gwin Boulevard in Clarksville, a town along the Indiana-Kentucky border. They found Cherry at his workplace and he agreed to go to the state police Sellersburg Post for further questioning.

After receiving his Miranda warning, he confirmed he posted under the account in question. He said he made the post to be “edgy” and receive reactions online, and that he never intended to do Musk harm.

Cherry stands accused of level five intimidation. According to an Indiana defense attorney, it carries up to a six-year prison sentence and a $10,000 fine.

An Oklahoma woman was arrested after she allegedly threatened a senior center resident with a knife and tried to blow up his oxygen machine.

Marketta Bates, 33, was taken into custody on Jan. 20 after an incident the same day at the Jeltz Senior Center in Oklahoma City. According to a police report obtained by KOKH, a local Fox affiliate, officers responded to calls about an assault at the center. When they arrived, they found Bates in a common area where a chaotic scene was taking place. The alleged victim, who was not named, told police that Bates pointed a knife at him after she threatened to light his oxygen tank on fire. Police saw the alleged victim’s oxygen tank on the ground near him, leaking liquid.