Federal judge blocks government worker layoffs

A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration's layoffs of government workers, ruling that they likely violated the terms of the funding deal that ended the government shutdown.

The deal prohibits federal agencies from carrying out a reduction in force until Jan. 30, The according to The Hill news outlet.

U.S. District Judge Susan Illston, a Clinton appointee, on Wednesday rejected the Trump administration's argument that RIFs announced ahead of the shutdown could move forward.

“Defendants must do what the continuing resolution says,” Illston wrote in her ruling. “They may not take any further steps to implement or carry out a RIF through January 30, 2026, regardless of when the RIF notice first issued.”

Her decision reverses any mass layoffs at the State and Education departments and the General Services and Small Business administrations that were implemented during the partial federal shutdown earlier this fall. 

Illston paused her reinstatement deadline until Tuesday, allowing the administration to appeal.

The American Federation of Government Employees and other unions sued over the Trump administration's RIFs during the shutdown. After the government reopened, the lawsuit turned to a provision of the spending package passed by Congress that ended the shutdown.

The spending package states, “no federal funds may be used to initiate, carry out, implement, or otherwise notice a reduction in force” between Nov. 12 and Jan. 30. 

“The essence of Plaintiffs’ preliminary-injunction motion is their disagreement with how certain federal agencies responded to the lapse in appropriations in managing their work forces. But Plaintiffs’ arguments fail across the board,” the Justice Department pushed back in court filings.