A federal judge in San Francisco issued a temporary injunction on Wednesday, preventing the Trump administration from terminating federal employees amid the ongoing shutdown, emphasizing the firings have significant “human costs.”
During a hearing at the San Francisco federal court, US District Judge Susan Illston remarked that the proposed layoffs affecting thousands of federal workers appeared politically motivated, inadequately planned, and detrimental to individuals’ livelihoods.
“The approach is very much ready, fire, aim for most of these programs, which leads to severe human costs,” stated Illston, a judge appointed by former Democratic President Bill Clinton.
“This human cost is simply intolerable.”
Illston interrogated government attorneys during the hearing regarding the rationale behind the administration’s drastic measures, particularly questioning why such actions were taken when furloughed employees lacked access to their work email and human resources personnel were unavailable to manage the layoffs.
The judge aligned with the groups of federal employees contesting the layoffs, issuing a temporary restraining order (TRO) on the basis that the proposed firings were likely unlawful and exceeded the government’s authority.
The judge also noted the administration appeared to exploit the current gap in government funding and operations, assuming the laws no longer applied to them, and imposing their own structures at will, as reported by Politico.
During the hearing, Assistant US Attorney Elizabeth Hedges contested the TRO, arguing that judges lack the authority to meddle in the employment decisions of federal agencies. She repeatedly avoided responding to Illston’s inquiries regarding the legality of the proposed job cuts.
Labor unions, including the American Federation of Government Employees, are suing the administration, asserting that the layoff notices were retaliatory and intended to exert political pressure. They also argued that Congress holds authority over agency decisions, not the administration.
The shutdown has entered its third week, beginning on October 1.
On Friday, the administration informed the court of plans to terminate over 4,100 employees across eight agencies.
Democratic representatives are insisting on extending healthcare subsidies for an additional year and reversing cuts to Medicaid initiated in a bill over the summer before they consent to government reopening.
Conversely, Republican lawmakers maintain that the priority should be ending the government shutdown first, allowing negotiations regarding associated demands to occur afterward.
US House Speaker Mike Johnson has indicated that the current shutdown could last longer than any previous ones and asserted he “won’t negotiate” with Democrats until they drop their demands.
The White House and the Office of Management and Budget did not provide any immediate comments on the matter on Wednesday.
With contributions from Post wires
