A federal judge has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from proceeding with its plans to lay off thousands of federal workers at more than 30 agencies, siding with labor unions that have accused the administration of unlawfully using the ongoing government shutdown as a pretext for politically motivated workforce reductions.
Ruling from the bench Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston labeled the reduction-in-force (RIF) notices “arbitrary and capricious” and called the administration’s actions “both illegal and in excess of authority,” according to multiple media reports.
Illston also directly cited public statements made by President Donald Trump, according to reports, including a social media post in which he referenced “Democrat agencies.”
“I have a meeting today with Russ Vought, he of PROJECT 2025 Fame, to determine which of the many Democrat Agencies, most of which are a political SCAM, he recommends to be cut, and whether or not those cuts will be temporary or permanent,” Trump wrote in an Oct. 2 post on Truth Social. “I can’t believe the Radical Left Democrats gave me this unprecedented opportunity.”
The district judge’s order blocks administration officials from taking action to issue RIF notices to federal workers represented by the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE).
“The administration’s move to fire thousands of federal employees who are already going without pay during the government shutdown is not only cruel but unlawful,” AFGE National President Everett Kelley said in a statement released Wednesday after the judge’s ruling. “We are pleased with the court’s ruling halting these unlawful terminations and preventing the administration from further targeting hardworking civil servants during the shutdown.”
The case presided over by Illston stems from a complaint filed Sept. 30 by labor unions representing government workers. The complaint sought relief from what the plaintiffs believed were impending layoffs.
“The threat of massive layoffs was repeated and reinforced yesterday by the White House press secretary who, when asked whether there will be mass layoffs of federal employees, answered, ‘There will be if Democrats don’t keep the government open.’”
The federal government ground to a halt the next day, with Democrats and Republicans deadlocked on differences over expiring health care subsidies and unable to reach a compromise to fund government operations.
Then, on Oct. 10, the mass layoffs began. Among the government departments impacted by the workforce reductions was the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which had 442 employees impacted, according to court filings.
In a statement released Wednesday, the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) noted that the layoffs included more than 100 employees from HUD’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity. The NFHA “forcefully condemns these unlawful actions taken in the middle of a government shutdown,” the statement read.
“This Administration is completely destroying the federal government’s capacity to address housing discrimination,” stated NFHA President and CEO Lisa Rice in a press release.
Attorneys representing the White House’s Office of Management and Budget, the government body directing the RIF process, have argued that the layoffs are legal and justified.
“For approximately 150 years, Congress has recognized federal agencies’ authority to engage in RIFs,” an Oct. 10 court filing from the defendants stated. “Over the decades, courts repeatedly recognized that such reductions were a matter of executive discretion.”
