A federal judge in San Francisco has issued a temporary restraining order preventing the Trump administration from moving forward with mass firings of federal workers amid the ongoing government shutdown. The ruling came in response to a lawsuit filed by unions, contending the layoffs were unlawful and politically driven. U.S. District Judge Susan Illston criticized the administration’s approach as shortsighted and said the cuts were being carried out without proper legal basis.
Illston’s decision applies to more than 4,100 employees at eight agencies who had received layoff notices. The judge ordered the administration to provide a detailed accounting of any actual or imminent job cuts and to explain how agencies would comply with the ruling. She also flagged statements from the administration suggesting certain agencies would be targeted based on political leanings, saying that approach cannot stand under the law.
The Justice Department argued the court lacked jurisdiction over hiring decisions and that such disputes should go through federal labor agencies first, but Illston dismissed that defense. She insisted that the human cost of sudden terminations during a shutdown could not be ignored. Meanwhile, the White House maintains it plans to press ahead with workforce reductions, estimating that over 10,000 federal jobs could be affected.
