San Francisco – The Trump administration must stop much of its dramatic reduction of the Federal Labor Force, ordered a Judge of California on Friday.
Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco issued the emergency order in a lawsuit filed last week by unions and cities, one of the multiple legal challenges for the efforts of Republican President Donald Trump to reduce the size of a federal government that calls swollen and expensive.
“The Court possess that the President must probably request the cooperation of Congress to order the changes he seeks, and therefore issues a temporary restriction order to stop large -scale reductions in force in force,” Illon wrote in his order.
The temporary restriction order orders numerous federal agencies to stop in the president’s performance Executive order of the workforce signed in February and a Rear memo emitted by him Government Efficiency Department and the Office of Personnel Management.
The order, which expires in 14 days, does not require the departments to hire people again. The plaintiffs requested that the validity date of any action of the agency be postponed and that the departments cease to implement or enforce the executive order, including additional action.
They limited their request to the departments where the dismantling is already underway or is ready to be underway, even in the The Department of Health and Human Services of the United Stateswhich announced in March It will deviate to 10,000 workers and centralize divisions.
Illston, who was nominated for the bank by former President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, said at a hearing on Friday that the president has authority to seek changes in the departments and executive agencies created by Congress.
“But it must do it legally,” he said. “It must do so with the cooperation of Congress, the Constitution is structured in that way.”
Trump has repeatedly said that voters gave him a mandate to rebuild the federal government, and took advantage of billionaire Elon Musk to lead the position through Doge.
Tens of thousands of federal workers have been fired, left their work through deferred resignation programs or have been licensed as a result of the efforts of the Trump government. There is There is no official figure for work cutsBut at least 75,000 federal employees took deferred resignation, and thousands of trial workers have already been fired.
In his order, Illston gave several examples to show the impact of the reduction. A union that represents federal workers who investigate the health risks faced by miners who were ready to lose 222 of 222 workers in the Pittsburgh office, Pennsylvania; A Vermont farmer did not receive a timely inspection in his property to receive disaster help after flooding and an important planting window was lost; A reduction in Social Security Administration workers has led to longer waiting times for the recipients.
All affected agencies were created by Congress, he said.
Government lawyers argued on Friday that the Executive Order and Memorandum ask for reductions from large -scale personnel and reorganization plans provided only general principles that agencies must continue to exercise their own decision -making process.
“Expressly invites comments and proposals for legislative participation as part of the policies that these agencies want to implement,” said Eric Hamilton, an attached deputy attorney general, about the memorandum. “It is establishing guidance.”
But Danielle Leonard, lawyer’s lawyer, said it was clear that the president, Doge and OPM were making decisions outside their authority and did not invite the dialogue of the agencies.
“They are not waiting for these planning documents” to go through long processes, he said. “They are not asking for approval and are not waiting for it.”
The temporary restriction order is applied to the departments, including the departments of agriculture, energy, work, interior, state, treasure and veteran affairs.
It also applies to the National Sciences Agency, Small Business Association, Social Security Administration and Environmental Protection Agency.
Some of the non -profit unions and groups are also claimants in another lawsuit against a San Francisco judge that defies the massive shots of the evidence. In that case, Judge William Alsup ordered the government in March to restore these workers, But the United States Supreme Court then blocked his order.
The plaintiffs include the cities of San Francisco, Chicago and Baltimore; Labor Group The American Federation of Government employees; and the alliance of non -profit groups for retired Americans, taxpayer and coalition rights center to protect the national parks of the United States.
