A Federal judge in San Francisco has issued an order that indefinitely blocks the Trump administration from implementing its large-scale layoff plans – also known as reductions in force (RIFs) – at most Federal government agencies.
U.S. District Judge Susan Illston issued a preliminary injunction late Thursday night saying President Donald Trump needed approval from Congress before reorganizing the Federal government and conducting mass layoffs.
The order extends a two-week temporary restraining order that Illston issued earlier this month, which pauses further implementation of President Trump’s Feb. 11 executive order. That order instructed Federal agencies to make deep cuts to the Federal government’s civilian workforce via RIFs.
“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,” Illston wrote in her 51-page preliminary injunction.
Illston noted that nine presidents over the last century have sought and obtained authority from Congress to reorganize the executive branch. She said that others, including President Trump in his first term, asked Congress for approval but did not receive it.
The ruling came after a Thursday hearing in a lawsuit filed by a coalition of labor unions, nonprofits, and local governments. The plaintiffs argued that the president cannot lawfully implement RIFs without the participation of Congress.
The judge’s order tasks Federal agencies with rescinding their actions taken to implement the RIFs, restoring affected employees to the status they held before Feb. 11. It also prevents agencies from issuing any further RIF notices.
The order applies to the Office of Management and Budget, Office of Personnel Management, and the Department of Government Efficiency, as well as the departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Energy, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Labor, State, Treasury, Transportation, and Veterans Affairs.
It also applies to the AmeriCorps, Peace Corps, Environmental Protection Agency, General Services Administration, National Labor Relations Board, National Science Foundation, Small Business Administration, and Social Security Administration.
The coalition of labor unions, nonprofits, and local governments that brought the lawsuit praised the judge’s decision.
“The Trump administration’s unlawful attempt to reorganize the Federal government has thrown agencies into chaos, disrupting critical services provided across our nation,” the group said in a statement.
“Each of us represents communities deeply invested in the efficiency of the Federal government – laying off Federal employees en masse and reorganizing government functions haphazardly does not achieve that,” it added. “We are gratified by the court’s decision … to pause these harmful actions while our case proceeds.”