SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A federal judge in San Francisco on Tuesday indefinitely barred the Trump administration from firing federal workers during the government shutdown, saying unions were likely to prevail on their claims that the cuts were arbitrary and politically motivated.
U.S. District Judge Susan Illston issued a preliminary injunction barring the firings while litigation against them proceeds. She had previously issued an interim injunction against the job cuts, which was set to expire on Wednesday.
Illston, who was nominated by Democratic President Bill Clinton, said she believes the evidence will ultimately show the mass layoffs were illegal and went beyond authority.
Federal agencies are prohibited from issuing layoff notices or responding to notices issued since the government shutdown on Oct. 1. Illston said her order does not apply to notices sent before the closure.
The Republican administration has cut jobs in education, health care and other areas it says Democrats favor. The administration has also said it will not draw on roughly $5 billion in emergency funds to maintain benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as SNAP, through November.
The American Federation of Government Employees and other unions have sued to stop the “cuts in layoffs,” saying the layoffs were an abuse of power aimed at punishing workers and putting pressure on Congress.
“President Trump is using the government shutdown as an excuse to illegally fire thousands of federal employees – particularly those employees who are implementing programs and policies that the administration deems objectionable,” AFGE National President Everett Kelley said in a statement thanking the court.
The White House referred a request for comment to the Office of Management and Budget, which did not immediately respond.
Government lawyers say the district court does not have the authority to hear personnel challenges and that Trump has broad authority to reduce the federal workforce as he promised during the campaign.
“The president was elected on this particular platform,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Velchik. “The American people chose someone best known for the eloquence with which he told employees he was being laid off. That’s what they voted for.”
Trump starred in a long-running reality TV series called “The Apprentice,” in which his signature catchphrase was to tell contestants they were fired.
About 4,100 termination notices have been sent since Oct. 10, some of them to work email addresses that furloughed employees are not allowed to check. Some employees were recalled to work without pay in order to serve layoff notices to others.
The lawsuit was expanded to include employees represented by additional unions, including the National Treasury Employees Union, the American Federation of Teachers and the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers. The lawsuit involves all cabinet departments and two dozen independent agencies.
Democratic lawmakers are demanding that any deal to reopen the federal government take into account expiring health care subsidies that have made health insurance more affordable for millions of Americans. They also want any federal funding bill to reverse the Medicaid cuts in Trump’s major tax relief and spending cuts bill passed this summer.
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson has refused to negotiate with Democrats until they first agree on reopening the government.
This is now the second longest shutdown in US history.
The longest standoff occurred during Trump’s first term over his demands for funds to build the U.S.-Mexico border wall. This ended in 2019 after 35 days.
