Judge extends order preventing Trump administration from laying offs of thousands of federal workers

Washington — A federal judge on Thursday continued to block the Trump administration from moving forward with its plans to lay off thousands of government workers at more than 20 federal agencies, providing federal employees a lifeline as a legal challenge to President Trump’s bid to restructure the federal government moves forward.

The preliminary injunction granted by U.S. District Judge Susan Illston covers 21 federal agencies and the White House’s Department of Government Efficiency and prevents them from implementing reductions-in-force, placing employees on administrative leave and proceeding with job cuts that are already in motion.

The judge, who sits on the federal court in San Francisco, also barred agencies from implementing any orders by the Elon Musk-led DOGE to cut programs or staff in connection with an executive order signed by President Trump in February that seeks to transform the executive branch. The agencies affected include the Departments of Health and Human Services and Veterans Affairs, as well as AmeriCorps and the Social Security Administration, among others.

While Illston also granted retrospective relief by ordering federal agencies to rescind any reductions-in-force, or layoffs, issued under the president’s February directive and to reinstate government workers who were put on administrative leave, she paused those components of her decision while the administration pursues an appeal.

The Justice Department informed the court on Friday that it will be asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit to review Illston’s decision.

In a 51-page ruling, Illston wrote that presidents do have the authority to seek changes to federal agencies, and nine presidents have over the last century sought to reorganize the executive branch — but only after obtaining approval from Congress.

“Presidents may set policy priorities for the executive branch, and agency heads may implement them. This much is undisputed,” the judge said. “But Congress creates federal agencies, funds them, and gives them duties that — by statute — they must carry out. Agencies may not conduct large-scale reorganizations and reductions in force in blatant disregard of Congress’s mandates, and a president may not initiate large-scale executive branch reorganization without partnering with Congress.”

She said that the plaintiffs in the case, which are labor unions, nonprofit organizations and local governments, are likely to succeed on their claim that Mr. Trump’s executive order usurps Congress’s constitutional powers and exceeds his authority.

“Put simply, in this case, defendants want the court to either declare that nine presidents and twenty-one Congresses did not properly understand the separation of powers, or ignore how the executive branch is implementing large-scale reductions in force and reorganizations. The court can do neither,” Illston wrote.

Illston had issued a two-week temporary restraining order on May 9 that directed the Trump administration to pause its plans to lay off vast swaths of the federal workforce. That temporary order was set to expire Friday. Her preliminary injunction now extends the initial block on the administration’s restructuring of the federal government as the case proceeds.

The Trump administration already asked the Supreme Court earlier this month to allow it to move forward with its reductions-in-force, seeking emergency relief in a request that arose out of Illston’s temporary restraining order. The high court has not yet acted on that bid, though the Justice Department will likely ask the Supreme Court to lift Illston’s injunction.

Mr. Trump’s February executive order directed agencies to make plans to initiate “large -scale” reductions in force as part of his initiative to slash the size of the federal government. On the heels of the president’s directive, the Office of Personnel Management and Office of Management and Budget issued a memo directing agencies to submit plans for two phases of job cuts, due March 13 and April 14. 

The Trump administration has said in filings that 40 reductions-in-force at 17 agencies were in progress but blocked by Illston’s May 9 order. The plans target thousands of federal workers, including up to 10,000 at the Department of Health and Human Services, 8,500 at the Energy Department and half of the workforce at the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration. The Department of Veterans Affairs has said it intends to slash 83,000 positions.

The reductions-in-force are separate from the mass terminations of probationary workers, who generally were in their positions for one or two years. But those firings, which took place in February, have also been the focus of lawsuits.

Mr. Trump’s government-shrinking efforts began shortly after he returned to the White House. The president created DOGE, a cost-cutting task force led by Musk, and his administration has taken steps to dismantle agencies like the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.