A federal judge on Wednesday blocked President Trump’s efforts to fire thousands of federal workers amid the government shutdown.
U.S. District Judge Susan Illston, appointed by former President Clinton, sided with government employee unions in temporarily blocking the administration from cutting the force or RIF, which was expected to affect more than 4,000 workers.
At a hearing on Wednesday, Illston said before arguments began that he believed the plaintiffs would ultimately succeed in demonstrating that the administration’s efforts, which appear to be “politically motivated,” are illegal and exceed its authority.
“The evidence shows that the Office of Management and Budget, OMB, and the Office of Personnel Management, OPM, have taken advantage of the reduction in government spending to trick government officials into believing that all bets are off, that the laws no longer apply to them and that they can impose structures they like on government positions they don’t like,” Illston said.
His order directs the Trump administration not to issue any new RIF notices or take any steps to enforce notices issued on Friday or later against employees represented by the suing unions. It directs the government to provide accurate counts of actual or impending layoffs by Friday.
The unions filed the lawsuit just before the shutdown began, arguing that the Trump administration’s plan to impose permanent dismissals rather than temporary furloughs with back pay later is unlawful.
He alleged that O.M.B.suggestions in a memoLast month’s call for agencies to “use this opportunity” to consider layoffs for programs with lapsed funding that do not align with Trump’s priorities misunderstands the law governing the shutdown.
Plaintiffs’ attorney Danielle Leonard pointed to OMB Director Russell Vought’s previous comments supporting civil servants leaving their careers.painfully affected“From their jobs, as evidence of the harm that the administration sought to impose with the layoffs.
“That’s exactly what they’re doing: trauma,” Leonard said. “It takes an emotional toll when told you are being laid off after an already exceptionally difficult year for federal employees.”
“In that context, it’s painful; it’s disturbing,” he said.
Illston pressured the Justice Department to present arguments regarding the legality of the administration’s efforts to reduce its workforce while the shutdown continued, but the government said it was not prepared to address the merits of the layoffs at this early stage of the litigation.
“But it is happening,” the judge pushed back. “This controversy is falling over the heads of workers all over the country, and you’re not even willing to tell me whether it’s legal or not.”
DOJ attorney Elizabeth Hedges argued that the judge could dismiss the unions’ lawsuit and request for emergency relief without determining the legality of the Trump administration’s efforts, arguing that harms caused to the game could be rectified by agency adjudicators such as the Merit System Protection Board (MSPB).
“We’re still dealing with classically compensable losses, the way the Supreme Court has said compensable losses are compensable — loss of employment, loss of profits, loss of wages,” Hedges said.
When the DOJ lawyer finished her presentation about the administration’s position, Illston offered another chance to give the answers she was seeking.
“I just want to make it clear: You are not making any statement about the government’s position on the merits of whether these RIFs are legal or not?” The judge asked.
Hedges said, “Not today, your honor.”
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