A U.S. judge has stopped President Donald Trump’s attempt to lay off hundreds of thousands of federal workers. The judge, Susan Illston, said that the president needs Congress’s approval before making such big changes to the government.
This decision comes from a lawsuit filed by unions, nonprofit groups, and cities who are trying to stop the mass layoffs. The judge’s ruling stops agencies from firing large numbers of employees while the case is still in court.
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Back on May 9, Judge Illston had already temporarily blocked 20 government agencies from making mass layoffs for two weeks. She also ordered that any workers already laid off be given their jobs back. On Thursday, she extended this block, with a few small changes.
The Trump administration wants the Supreme Court to stop the judge’s order, arguing that the president has the right to manage the executive branch. But after Thursday’s ruling, that request may no longer matter unless they win on appeal.
Government lawyer Andrew Bernie said agencies are allowed to make big staff cuts and that Trump’s order didn’t actually order layoffs, just asked agencies to review possible cuts. He also pointed out that lawsuits can still be filed once real actions, like firings, take place.
However, the lawyer for the people suing, Danielle Leonard, said the president’s team was clearly pushing agencies to cut jobs with little choice in the matter. She said the White House was telling them what and when to cut, leaving agencies to only write up the plans.
The departments affected include agriculture, health, treasury, commerce, state, and veterans affairs. President Trump’s plan aimed to cut what he called “unnecessary” jobs, remove extra layers of management, close some offices, and replace routine work with automation.
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So far, about 260,000 federal workers have already left or are expected to leave by September, many through voluntary buyouts. Major job cuts were planned for departments like Veterans Affairs (over 80,000 jobs) and Health and Human Services (10,000 jobs).
Many lawsuits are still ongoing against these job cuts. Judge Illston’s decision is currently the strongest legal action taken against Trump’s government restructuring plan. Meanwhile, another court case that had ordered 25,000 newer federal workers to be rehired has been put on hold by an appeals court.
