Judge blocks Trump's plans for mass layoffs during government shutdown

by · UPI

Oct. 28 (UPI) -- U.S. District Court Judge Susan Illston on Tuesday extended a ban on the Trump administration plan to lay off thousands of employees amid the ongoing government shutdown -- a move hailed by unions representing federal workers.

Illston's ruling came as the shutdown entered its 28th day.

During a hearing Tuesday, Illston granted the unions' request for a preliminary injunction that bars the Trump administration from issuing "reductions-in-force" notices that are the precursor to mass layoffs until the government reopens.

The union's lawsuit was first filed on Sept. 30 before the federal government shutdown over an impasse over health care subsidies. The lawsuit preemptively challenged what it called the "the legally unsupportable position" laid out in a memo by the Office of Management and Budget that claimed authority to consider reductions-in-force for agencies that are not a priority of Trump.

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The lawsuit was later expanded to include additional unions representing a range of federal employees. The unions praised the ruling in a joint statement.

"President Trump is using the government shutdown as a pretense to illegally fire thousands of federal workers - specifically those employees carrying out programs and policies that the administration finds objectionable," AFGE National President Everett Kelley said in the statement. "We thank the court for keeping in place its order preventing the administration from firing workers due to the shutdown while we continue our litigation in court."

"Today's ruling is another victory for federal workers and our ongoing efforts to protect their jobs from an administration hellbent on illegally firing them," AFSCME President Lee Saunders said in a statement.

Illston's initial order blocking the Trump administration from carrying firings of more than 4,000 federal employees called the move "unprecedented."