US judge blocks Trump’s plan to fire thousands of government employees

• About 4,100 workers have been notified of layoffs during the shutdown.
• Two unions representing state employees sued.
• The judge says express political motivation is not allowed under the law.

A federal judge in California on Wednesday ordered President Donald Trump’s administration to stop mass layoffs of federal workers during a partial government shutdown, while she ruled unions’ claims that the job cuts are illegal.

During a hearing in San Francisco, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston granted a request by two unions to block layoffs at more than 30 federal agencies while the case proceeds.

The decision is likely to be appealed quickly, but offers a reprieve for federal workers facing a nearly year-long push by the Trump administration to cut their ranks.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The White House said last week it had begun major layoffs across the US government as Trump followed through on a threat to cut the federal workforce during the government shutdown, now in its 15th day. In an executive order on Wednesday, Trump extended an existing freeze on hiring new federal employees, with exceptions for military personnel and appointees to civilian roles.

About 4,100 workers at eight agencies have been notified they are being laid off so far, according to a Tuesday court filing by management.

Illston’s decision came shortly after White House budget director Russell Vought told “The Charlie Kirk Show” that more than 10,000 federal workers could lose their jobs because of the shutdown.

Illston at the hearing cited a series of public statements by Trump and Vought that she said showed clear political motivation for the layoffs, such as Trump saying the cuts would target “Democratic agencies.”

“You can’t do that in a nation of laws. And we have laws here, and the things that are being laid out here are not within the law,” said Illston, an appointee of Democratic former President Bill Clinton.

The judge asks for details of the layoffs

Democracy Forward, a legal group that represents unions, said Illston made it clear that the president’s targeting of federal workers was illegal.

“Our public servants are doing the people’s job, and playing games with their livelihoods is cruel and illegal and a threat to everyone in our nation,” Skye Perryman, the group’s president and CEO, said in a statement.

Illston ordered the administration to provide by Friday an account of any “actual or impending” layoffs and describe the steps agencies are taking to comply with her decision.

U.S. Justice Department attorney Elizabeth Hedges said at the hearing that she was unwilling to address Illston’s concerns about the legality of the firings. Instead, he argued that unions must submit their claims to a federal labor board before they can sue them in court.

Illston disagreed and chided the Justice Department for refusing to take a position on the unions’ legal claims.

“The ax is falling on the heads of workers across the country and you’re not even prepared to look at whether this is legal,” he said.

The American Federation of Government Employees and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees argue that implementing the layoffs is not an essential service that can be performed during a state funding shortfall and that the shutdown does not justify massive job cuts because most federal workers have been furloughed without pay.

Trump’s Republicans hold majorities in both houses of Congress but need at least seven Democratic votes to pass a funding bill in the Senate, where Democrats are pushing to expand health insurance subsidies. Democrats said they would not cave to Trump’s pressure tactics, and a new effort to pass a spending bill failed on Wednesday.