A federal judge in Maryland said Wednesday he will at least briefly extend a temporary order requiring the Trump administration to bring back federal workers who were fired as part of a dramatic downsizing of the federal workforce,

A federal judge who ordered the Trump administration to reinstate nearly 25,000 fired government employees said on Wednesday that he could narrow his ruling to workers based in Washington, D.C., and the 19 mostly Democratic-led states that sued over the mass firings.

The judge said he needed more time to determine whether a longer-term halt should apply to the entire country or be restricted to certain states while the case proceeds.