A federal judge said Wednesday that the Trump administration violated her preliminary injunction halting mass layoffs.
Last month, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston — a Clinton appointee — converted a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) into a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration’s effort to overhaul and reorganize 20 agencies within the Executive Branch.
In February, President Trump issued an executive order to initiate a complete overhaul of the Executive Branch through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Judge Illston said that for President Trump to carry out such large-scale overhauls, he must first obtain approval from Congress.
The judge blocked the issuance of any reduction-in-force (RIF) notices to employees in 20 federal agencies.
The judge’s preliminary injunction was issued in response to a lawsuit filed by the AFL-CIO and the American Federation of Government Employees.
Judge Illston issued an injunction against the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the State Department, the Treasury Department, and other federal agencies.
On Wednesday, Judge Illston ordered the Trump administration to demonstrate that the layoffs at the State Department and HUD do not violate her injunction.
As reported by Bloomberg Law:
The Trump administration appears to be flouting a court order halting mass government layoffs, a federal judge said Wednesday.
Judge Susan Illston of the US District Court for Northern California ordered the administration to prove by June 9 that two sets of layoffs—at the departments of State and Housing and Urban Development—do not violate a preliminary injunction issued by the court last month.
The order marks another setback for the Trump administration as it fights to cut the size of the government. Union plaintiffs told the court that the administration was violating a May 23 preliminary injunction halting the layoffs while the court challenge moves forward.
Illston largely rejected the government’s claim that the layoffs were separate from President Donald Trump’s downsizing order issued Feb. 11. The State Department layoffs were not part of the president’s widespread staff reduction plan, and were at the sole discretion of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the Trump administration attorney, Andrew Bernie, told Illston. Forty planned layoffs at 17 other agencies had been halted, he said.
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