A federal judge in San Francisco has issued a temporary restraining order preventing the Trump administration from proceeding with government furloughs. This decision came in response to a request from labor unions, which contended that the layoffs were illegal during the current government shutdown.
U.S. District Court Judge Susan Illston, appointed by Bill Clinton, directed the administration to refrain from issuing any reduction in force notices to federal employees across all programs, projects, or activities, including those represented by the unions, during the shutdown.
“The evidence suggests OMB and OPM have taken advantage of the lapse in government spending–function to assume all bets are off and that the laws don’t apply to them,” Illston stated.
She further characterized the administration’s actions as “illegal and in excess of authority, arbitrary and capricious.”
In a court filing made on Tuesday evening, an official from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) indicated that over 4,000 government employees had already received notices of reduction in force.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
