Federal judge says the administration’s plan to cut 4,100 workers during shutdown breaks the law
A federal judge in San Francisco has stopped the Trump administration from moving forward with plans to lay off thousands of federal workers during the ongoing government shutdown.
U.S. District Judge Susan Illston issued an emergency order Wednesday that immediately blocks any further layoffs of federal employees, calling the move “unlawful” and politically motivated.
Court blocks layoffs amid shutdown
The case was brought by several unions representing federal workers, who argued that the administration was breaking the law by using the funding lapse as an excuse to fire employees. The layoffs began last Friday, affecting more than 4,000 workers across multiple government agencies.
“As of right now, the temporary restraining order is in effect,” Judge Illston said during the hearing. The order prevents the administration from moving ahead with any layoffs for union members and from issuing new notices while the legal challenge continues.
The decision comes as a relief to thousands of employees who were unsure whether they would still have jobs by the end of the month.
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The judge says the move was politically driven
Judge Illston, who was appointed by former President Bill Clinton, said evidence suggested the layoffs were not only unlawful but also politically motivated.
“I believe the administration has taken advantage of the lapse in government spending to assume that the laws don’t apply to them anymore,” Illston said from the bench.
She pointed to public comments made by President Donald Trump, noting that some layoffs seemed to target programmes and agencies favoured by Democrats. “The politics that infuse what’s going on are being trumpeted out loud in this case,” she said.
The judge added that there are clear laws that dictate how workforce reductions can be carried out, and that those rules “are being ignored”.
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Thousands received layoff notices
Last Friday, the administration began sending out what’s known as reduction-in-force (RIF) notices to around 4,100 federal workers after instructing agencies in September to prepare for mass layoffs if the shutdown began.
The affected departments included Health and Human Services, Commerce, Education, Housing and Urban Development, Homeland Security, Treasury, and Energy, along with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
However, the process was messy. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) accidentally sent layoff notices to hundreds of employees who were not actually slated to lose their jobs. Officials later admitted that about 1,760 notices were sent in error due to “data discrepancies and processing errors.”
Trump officials planned to cut even more jobs
Before the judge’s ruling, the White House had signalled it wanted to go even further. Russ Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget, said on Wednesday that layoffs could eventually exceed 10,000 workers.
“We’re definitely talking thousands of people,” Vought said during an interview on The Charlie Kirk Show. “We want to be very aggressive where we can be in shuttering the bureaucracy — not just the funding.”
He added that the administration viewed the shutdown as a chance to “cut the size of government” in a lasting way.
What happens next
For now, Judge Illston’s restraining order blocks the Trump administration from issuing any new layoff notices until the unions’ lawsuit is resolved. The ruling is temporary but could be extended if the court finds that the layoffs violate federal labour laws.
Union leaders called the decision a “vital win” for government workers who have been under extreme stress since the shutdown began on October 1.
“This ruling gives our members breathing room,” said a spokesperson for one of the unions involved in the case. “No administration should use a funding lapse as an excuse to break the law or punish workers for political reasons.”
As the shutdown drags on and legal battles unfold, thousands of federal employees remain uncertain about their future. But for now, at least, the judge’s order keeps their jobs safe — and sends a clear message that even during a shutdown, the government must still follow the law.
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