A federal judge on Friday issued a temporary pause on the Trump administration’s plans to restructure various government agencies and cut tens of thousands of federal workers because the government overhaul was not authorized by Congress.
U.S. District Judge Susan Illston put a 14-day pause on the mass layoffs, siding with a group of unions, non-profits and local governments after they filed a lawsuit on April 28.
Illston said Trump may broadly restructure federal agencies, but only in “lawful ways” with approval from Congress.
“The President has the authority to seek changes to executive branch agencies, but he must do so in lawful ways and, in the case of large-scale reorganizations, with the cooperation of the legislative branch,” Illston said. “Many presidents have sought this cooperation before; many iterations of Congress have provided it.”
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“Nothing prevents the President from requesting this cooperation—as he did in his prior term of office,” the judge continued. “Indeed, the Court holds the President likely must request Congressional cooperation to order the changes he seeks, and thus issues a temporary restraining order to pause large-scale reductions in force in the meantime.”
Illston’s ruling was the broadest of its kind against administration efforts to overhaul the federal government, which have been led by Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency, DOGE.
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In February, Trump directed agencies to work with DOGE to identify targets for mass layoffs as part of the administration’s plans to restructure the government.
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The president instructed agencies to eliminate duplicate roles, unnecessary management layers and non-critical jobs, as well as to automate routine tasks, close regional field offices and reduce the use of outside contractors.
The group of plaintiffs said the administration’s “unlawful attempt to reorganize the federal government has thrown agencies into chaos, disrupting critical services provided across our nation.”
“Each of us represents communities deeply invested in the efficiency of the federal government – laying off federal employees and reorganizing government functions haphazardly does not achieve that,” the groups said in a statement.
Illston scheduled a hearing for May 22 for a potential longer preliminary injunction. She said plaintiffs are likely to suffer irreparable harm without the temporary restraining order, which she said preserves the status quo.
The judge said the plaintiffs are likely to succeed on the merits of some of their claims. They accuse Trump of exceeding his authority and say that DOGE, the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Personnel Management exceeded their authority and violated administrative law.
“The Court here is not considering the potential loss of income of one individual employee, but the widespread termination of salaries and benefits for individuals, families, and communities,” Illston wrote.
Reuters contributed to this report.
