Federal judge indefinitely blocks Trump admin from laying off federal workers during shutdown

A federal judge on Tuesday indefinitely blocked President Donald Trump from firing federal workers amid a government shutdown, expanding on her previous ruling that temporarily halted the terminations.

U.S. District Judge Susan Illston ruled earlier this month that the firings had a "human cost that could not be tolerated," after the government went into a formal shutdown when the Senate failed to pass a House-passed bill that provides funding through Nov. 21.

Illston, who was appointed by former President Bill Clinton, sided with government employee unions in the ruling, who asked her to stop the administration from carrying out its reductions in force amid a lawsuit, The Hill reported.

Illston claimed in a hearing that the firings, which were expected to impact approximately 4,000 employees, were “political retribution." 

The judge also said that she believes the administration's efforts to fire the employees will be deemed illegal and an overstep of executive authority.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.