Judge pauses Trump layoffs amid government funding lapse

A federal judge in California issued a temporary injunction on Wednesday, stopping the Trump administration from mass layoffs during the lapse in government spending that has stretched over two weeks. U.S. District Judge Susan Illston ruled in favor of two major labor unions that sued the government over the planned furloughs.

Illston ordered the administration to stop all layoffs and requested more details from the Trump administration about the layoff notices already issued. The administration was also barred from enforcing layoffs already issued within offices where employees are members of the unions involved in the case.

The American Federation of Government Employees and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees filed a lawsuit in September. Firing federal workers during a shutdown is an illegal power abuse aimed at pressuring Congress and punishing citizens, the filing argued. The Trump administration is misusing the shutdown for partisan gain and violating existing laws that govern how shutdowns function, the filing added.

Judge Illston’s order came shortly after White House budget director Russell Vought said the government planned to cut over 10,000 jobs amid the shutdown. Vought explained, while appearing on The Charlie Kirk Show, that President Donald Trump wanted to cut down on federal funding and the bureaucratic structure. This is an opportunity to shutter the bureaucracy, and Trump’s been looking for those opportunities, he said. The Trump administration is now barred from sweeping layoffs amid the shutdown while litigation continues.

Dig deeper: Read my previous report about the IRS furloughing thousands of employees last week because of the funding lapse.