President Donald Trump has made no secret of his plans to dramatically downsize the federal workforce, though his efforts have faced an onslaught of pushback in the courts.
In a noteworthy setback for Trump and broader GOP desires for greater government efficiency, a federal judge last week put a temporary pause on an administration move that would have laid off tens of thousands of employees, as Fox News reports.
The decision at issue was handed down by California-based U.S. District Judge Susan Illston, and it resulted in a 14-day stop on a wave of planned layoffs at multiple government agencies.
Illston's ruling came on the same day she heard arguments on the request for injunctive relief, and in it, the judge declared that the Trump move lacked necessary involvement from Congress, as NBC News noted.
“The President has the authority to seek changes to the executive branch agencies, but he must do so in lawful ways and, in the case of large-scale reorganizations, with the cooperation of the legislative branch,” Illston wrote.
The judge continued, “Many presidents have sought this cooperation before; many iterations of Congress have provided it. Nothing prevents the President from requesting this cooperation -- as he did in his prior term of office.”
Illston added, “Indeed, the Court holds the President likely must request Congressional cooperation to order the changes he seeks and thus issues a temporary restraining order to pause large-scale reductions in force in the meantime.”
The judge's order puts a block – at least for now – on cuts planned by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the Office of Management and Budget, the Office of Personnel Management, as well as the Transportation, Interior, and Housing and Urban Development Departments.
Reductions were planned across 21 distinct departments and agencies, and as such, Illston's ruling represents a significant setback for Trump's downsizing agenda.
The restraining order will be in place for two weeks, and it embodies Illston's stated belief that no statutory authority exists that would provide the aforementioned administration arms to force other government agencies to initiate mass layoffs of this nature.
“Such action is far outside the bounds of any authority that Congress vested in OPM or OMB, and, as noted, DOGE has no statutory authority whatsoever,”' she determined.
Whether Illston's block will endure for the stated time period remains to be seen, as administration lawyers filed an appeal of the ruling late on Friday, seeking review by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
The coalition of unions, nonprofit organizations, and local governments opposing the Trump workforce reduction move issued a statement reacting to the ruling, saying, “The Trump administration's unlawful attempt to reorganize the federal government has thrown agencies into chaos, disrupting critical services provided across our nation,” adding, “We are gratified by the court's decision today to pause these harmful actions while our case proceeds.”
Illston, a Bill Clinton appointee, has scheduled further arguments in the dispute on May 22, and precisely where this case will go from there, only time will tell.
