A federal judge in California has issued a temporary injunction halting plans for mass layoffs of federal employees, putting a pause on President Donald Trump’s effort to significantly alter the federal workforce. The ruling, delivered by Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco, came in response to a lawsuit filed by various labor unions and several cities.
This emergency order temporarily suspends the administration’s plans to terminate employees in multiple departments, including State, Treasury, Veterans Affairs, Social Security, and Transportation. The administration’s agenda had aimed to reduce the federal workforce substantially, a move that now faces a significant legal challenge.
In her ruling, Judge Illston noted that the Trump administration expressed intentions to overhaul the federal government’s operations. While she acknowledged that federal courts typically do not interfere in workforce management, she emphasized the necessity of maintaining a proper balance among the three branches of government. She stated that the President likely needs cooperation from Congress to implement the changes he proposes.
The judge’s order is set to remain in effect for two weeks, preventing any further reduction-in-force notifications until May 23. Although agencies that have already carried out layoffs are not required to rehire employees, the pause means no new notifications can be issued during this timeframe. Many departments were preparing to initiate layoffs imminently.
The departments explicitly mentioned in Illston’s ruling comprise Labor, State, Treasury, Energy, Commerce, Health and Human Services, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, Agriculture, Veterans Affairs, and more. Agencies including Health and Human Services had already announced job cuts but later retracted some of those decisions after acknowledging errors in the layoffs. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stated that they would reinstate wrongly terminated personnel, calling it part of their original plan.
While precise figures on the layoffs remain unclear, reports indicate that at least 75,000 federal employees have opted for deferred resignations, and many on probation have been dismissed. The plaintiffs in the lawsuit assert that Trump’s executive order contravenes constitutional laws that mandate prior notification to federal employees about layoffs and requires consideration of factors like veteran status and length of service.
Cities such as Chicago, San Francisco, and Baltimore are among the plaintiffs, along with organizations like the American Federation of Government Employees and the Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks. Another lawsuit filed by some of the same parties previously led to a court ruling restoring certain federal employees, a decision later overturned by the Supreme Court.
This judicial decision adds another layer of complexity to an already tumultuous employment landscape in the federal government, with ongoing debates about workforce management and executive authority continuing to unfold.
This article was automatically written by OpenAI, and the people, facts, circumstances, and story may be inaccurate. Any article can be requested for removal, retraction, or correction by writing to [email protected].