California Judge Halts Trump’s Plan to Sack Thousands of Federal Employees

A federal judge in California on Wednesday ordered President Donald Trump’s administration to halt mass redundancies of federal workers during a partial government shutdown, while she considers claims by unions that the job cuts are illegal.

During a hearing in San Francisco, US District Judge Susan Illston granted a request by two unions to block dismissals at more than 30 federal agencies while the case proceeds.

The decision is likely to be appealed quickly, but it offers a reprieve for federal employees facing a year-long push by the Trump administration to slash their ranks. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The White House said last week that it had begun substantial layoffs across the US government, as Trump followed through on a threat to cut the federal workforce during the shutdown, now in its 15th day. In an order issued on Wednesday, Trump extended an existing freeze on hiring new federal employees, with exceptions for military personnel and political appointees.

About 4,100 workers at eight agencies have so far been notified that they are being made redundant, according to a court filing by the administration on Tuesday.

Illston’s ruling came shortly after White House Budget Director Russell Vought said on The Charlie Kirk Show that more than 10,000 federal employees could lose their jobs as a result of the shutdown.

Illston cited a series of public statements by Trump and Vought that she said demonstrated explicit political motivations behind the layoffs -- including Trump’s remark that the cuts would target “Democrat agencies.”

“You can’t do that in a nation of laws. And we have laws here, and the things that are being articulated are not within the law,” said Illston, an appointee of former Democratic president Bill Clinton.

Democracy Forward, a legal group representing the unions, said Illston made clear that the president’s targeting of federal workers was unlawful.

 

“Our civil servants do the work of the people, and playing games with their livelihoods is cruel, unlawful, and a threat to everyone in our nation,” said Skye Perryman, the group’s president and CEO, in a statement.

 

Illston ordered the administration to provide, by Friday, an accounting of any “actual or imminent” redundancies and to outline the steps agencies are taking to comply with her ruling.

 

Elizabeth Hedges, a US Department of Justice lawyer, told the court she was not prepared to address Illston’s concerns about the legality of the layoffs. She argued instead that the unions must bring their claims before a federal labour board before seeking relief in court.

 

Illston disagreed and criticised the Justice Department for refusing to take a position on the unions’ legal claims.

 

“The hatchet is falling on the heads of employees all across the nation, and you’re not even prepared to address whether that’s legal,” she said.

 

The American Federation of Government Employees and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees argued that implementing redundancies is not an essential service that can be performed during a lapse in government funding, and that the shutdown does not justify mass job cuts since most federal workers have already been furloughed without pay.

 

Trump’s Republicans hold majorities in both chambers of Congress but need at least seven Democratic votes to pass a funding bill in the Senate, where Democrats are holding out for an extension of health insurance subsidies. Democrats have said they will not yield to Trump’s pressure tactics, and a renewed attempt to pass a spending bill failed on Wednesday.

 

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