The Trump administration’s threat of mass layoffs in response to the ongoing government shutdown received another blow on Friday when a federal judge ruled a temporary restraining order she imposed earlier this week barring firings applies to additional federal workers.
Newsweek contacted the Department of Justice and the White House for comment on Saturday via online inquiry form and email respectively outside of regular office hours.
Why It Matters
The U.S. government entered a partial shutdown on October 1 after the Senate failed to pass an appropriations bill, with Democrats demanding an extension to health insurance subsidies, resulting in many government employees being furloughed without pay.
In response the Trump administration has threatened to impose mass federal layoffs. Friday’s ruling is a fresh blow to this scheme, which was widely regarded as an effort to increase pressure on Democrats to make concessions.
What Happens Next
On Friday Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco expanded a temporary restraining order she issued on Wednesday preventing reduction in force (RIF) layoffs going ahead for members of the American Federation of Government Employees and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees to three other unions.
These are the National Federation of Federal Employees, the Service Employees International Union and the National Association of Government Employees.
Illston also clarified what she meant by membership of these unions. This was a response to the Department of Health and Human Services (DHH) arguing the protection didn’t apply to members of unions they stopped dealing with in response to President Trump’s March Executive Order, which ended collective bargaining with unions on certain topics.
The judge said: “If an individual person is an employee of the defendant agencies and is a member of a plaintiff union…they can’t be RIFed. That’s what I thought I said and what I’m trying to say.
“That would be contrary to what HHS perhaps thought I meant, but that’s what I do mean.”
In her ruling Illston also said federal agencies must clarify by noon Eastern Time on Monday how many employees they planned to let go during the shutdown, and how many of these were now protected by her court orders.
What People Are Saying
According to the Federal News Network, speaking in court Elizabeth Hedges, a Justice Department attorney, said the department would comply with Illston’s rulings but noted it would be difficult to produce a list of employees they had planned to fire by Monday.
Hedges said: “We are in a shutdown. And part of the reason why this is so extraordinarily burdensome to the agencies is because we’re in a shutdown. Every time we have to file something, it requires figuring out who to contact, who’s not furloughed, etc. So it is an extreme burden to comply on these timelines.”
Illston replied: “Well, it’s an extreme burden that was quite deliberately placed on your shoulders, and it wasn’t placed there by me. The government has decided to do it this way. And that’s why we’re in this very awkward situation.”
What Happens Next
There is little sign of the current shutdown ending anytime soon, with both the Trump administration and Congressional Democrats maintaining their current positions. Illston’s injunction will make it harder for the administration to put pressure on Democrats by threatening mass firings, though it could be overturned.
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