Judge pauses much of Trump administration's massive downsizing of
federal agencies
[May 10, 2025]
By JANIE HAR
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The Trump administration must halt much of its
dramatic downsizing of the federal workforce, a California judge ordered
Friday.
Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco issued the emergency order in a
lawsuit filed last week by labor unions and cities, one of multiple
legal challenges to Republican President Donald Trump’s efforts to
shrink the size of a federal government he calls bloated and expensive.
“The Court holds the President likely must request Congressional
cooperation to order the changes he seeks, and thus issues a temporary
restraining order to pause large-scale reductions in force in the
meantime,” Illston wrote in her order.
The temporary restraining order directs numerous federal agencies to
halt acting on the president’s workforce executive order signed in
February and a subsequent memo issued by the Department of Government
Efficiency and the Office of Personnel Management.
The order, which expires in 14 days, does not require departments to
rehire people. Plaintiffs asked that the effective date of any agency
action be postponed and that departments stop implementing or enforcing
the executive order, including taking any further action.
They limited their request to departments where dismantlement is already
underway or poised to be underway, including at the the U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services, which announced in March it will lay off
10,000 workers and centralize divisions.
Illston, who was nominated to the bench by former President Bill
Clinton, a Democrat, said at a hearing Friday the president has
authority to seek changes in the executive branch departments and
agencies created by Congress.
“But he must do so in lawful ways,” she said. “He must do so with the
cooperation of Congress, the Constitution is structured that way.”
Trump has repeatedly said voters gave him a mandate to remake the
federal government, and he tapped billionaire Elon Musk to lead the
charge through DOGE.
Tens of thousands of federal workers have been fired, left their jobs
via deferred resignation programs or have been placed on leave as a
result of Trump’s government-shrinking efforts. There is no official
figure for the job cuts, but at least 75,000 federal employees took
deferred resignation, and thousands of probationary workers have already
been let go.
In her order, Illston gave several examples to show the impact of the
downsizing. One union that represents federal workers who research
health hazards faced by mineworkers said it was poised to lose 221 of
222 workers in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, office; a Vermont farmer
didn’t receive a timely inspection on his property to receive disaster
aid after flooding and missed an important planting window; a reduction
in Social Security Administration workers has led to longer wait times
for recipients.
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President Donald Trump speaks at an education event and executive
order signing in the East Room of the White House in Washington,
March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
All the agencies impacted were created by Congress, she noted.
Lawyers for the government argued Friday that the executive order
and memo calling for large-scale personnel reductions and
reorganization plans provided only general principles that agencies
should follow in exercising their own decision-making process.
“It expressly invites comments and proposals for legislative
engagement as part of policies that those agencies wish to
implement,” Eric Hamilton, a deputy assistant attorney general, said
of the memo. “It is setting out guidance.”
But Danielle Leonard, an attorney for plaintiffs, said it was clear
that the president, DOGE and OPM were making decisions outside of
their authority and not inviting dialogue from agencies.
“They are not waiting for these planning documents" to go through
long processes, she said. “They’re not asking for approval, and
they’re not waiting for it.”
The temporary restraining order applies to departments including the
departments of Agriculture, Energy, Labor, Interior, State, Treasury
and Veterans Affairs.
It also applies to the National Science Foundation, Small Business
Association, Social Security Administration and Environmental
Protection Agency.
Some of the labor unions and nonprofit groups are also plaintiffs in
another lawsuit before a San Francisco judge challenging the mass
firings of probationary workers. In that case, Judge William Alsup
ordered the government in March to reinstate those workers, but the
U.S. Supreme Court later blocked his order.
Plaintiffs include the cities of San Francisco, Chicago and
Baltimore; labor group American Federation of Government Employees;
and nonprofit groups Alliance for Retired Americans, Center for
Taxpayer Rights and Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks.
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