A Judge Blocks Trump’s Shutdown Cuts and Invites a Constitutional Showdown
A federal judge has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from proceeding with mass layoffs of federal employees during the government shutdown, calling the move “unprecedented” and “the epitome of hasty, arbitrary, and capricious decisionmaking.”
Judge Susan Illston, a Clinton appointee in the Northern District of California, issued a temporary restraining order on Wednesday that halts all reduction-in-force (RIF) notices issued since October 10 and bars agencies from implementing or even counting down their effective dates. The injunction applies across more than two dozen departments and agencies, from Treasury and Health and Human Services to Education and Commerce.
Illston ordered the administration to provide a full accounting of all layoffs by Friday and set a preliminary-injunction hearing for October 28. She required the unions to post only a $10 bond and rejected the Justice Department’s request for a stay.
Converting the APA into a Labor Law
Illston based her ruling on the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), treating the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) “Lapse Memorandum”—which encouraged agencies to “use this opportunity” to restructure programs “not consistent with the President’s priorities”—as a “final
Continue Reading on Breitbart
This preview shows approximately 15% of the article. Read the full story on the publisher's website to support quality journalism.