A federal judge on Tuesday said the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump cannot quickly fire thousands of probationary federal workers in 19 states and Washington, D.C., narrowing an earlier nationwide ruling.

The pause is limited to certain states while the case proceeds, narrowing the scope of an earlier order that had paused firings nationwide and led to the reinstatement of thousands of federal employees.

A Maryland judge directed the Trump administration to pause workforce reductions that might include thousands of probationary employees slated for reinstatement, expanding an earlier order to put them back on the payroll temporarily.