In a major escalation of its efforts to reshape the federal workforce, the Trump administration on Friday filed an emergency appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, seeking permission to move forward with tens of thousands of layoffs across federal agencies, Politico reported.
The administration requested the justices lift a lower court order issued last week by U.S. District Judge Susan Illston, which temporarily blocked mass terminations outlined in a February executive order. The layoffs, referred to as reductions in force (RIFs), are part of President Trump’s sweeping initiative to downsize the federal government.
Broad Impact Across 21 Agencies
Illston’s injunction halted layoffs at 21 federal agencies, including the Departments of Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, State, Treasury, Labor, Energy, and Health and Human Services, among others. The ruling covered probationary and long-term employees and cited procedural violations and a lack of Congressional cooperation.
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), and independent agencies like the Social Security Administration, National Science Foundation, and AmeriCorps were also affected.
“The order has brought to a halt numerous in-progress RIFs at more than a dozen federal agencies,” said Solicitor General John Sauer in the administration’s filing. He added that the ruling forces agencies to retain “thousands of employees whose continuance in federal service is determined… not to be in the government and public interest.”
Judicial Showdown Over Executive Power
Judge Illston, a Clinton appointee, argued the administration was circumventing legal safeguards that protect federal employees, including tenure-based protections and Congressional oversight requirements.
She emphasized that large-scale federal reorganizations require legislative backing, recalling Trump’s earlier efforts to push similar plans through Congress during his first term — efforts that stalled without sufficient support.
Wider Legal and Political Ramifications
The Trump administration’s strategy has prompted strong opposition from federal employee unions, nonprofit organizations, and over 20 Democratic-led states, all of whom filed amicus briefs supporting Illston’s decision.
This is not the first time the Supreme Court has assisted the administration. In April, it lifted an injunction on layoffs affecting probationary workers in six Cabinet departments.
The current request involves a broader and deeper wave of reductions-in-force. If approved, it could fundamentally reshape the federal bureaucracy, triggering economic and political ripple effects ahead of the 2025 election cycle.
As the Supreme Court considers the emergency appeal, the battle over the scope of executive authority and the future of the U.S. federal workforce intensifies, with nationwide implications for public administration and labor rights.