A judge indicates that the State Department may be disregarding a court decree by implementing layoffs commencing from June 13.
In a series of developments, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has denied the Trump administration's request to strike down Judge Susan Illston's injunction, which temporarily halts mass layoffs and reorganisations across several major agencies.
The saga began when Judge Illston, a district judge in California, extended the pause on reorganisations and related staffing cuts indefinitely on May 22, following an emergency hearing after the plaintiffs accused the administration of violating her order.
The administration, however, argues that the State Department's reorganisation, which could lead to thousands of job cuts, is permissible even under the current preliminary injunction. They assert that the reorganisation was conducted separately from President Trump's mandate to slash agency workforces and instead occurred only at the instruction of Secretary Marco Rubio.
The State Department, expected to shed more than 3,400 employees, is planning its layoffs and changes, as reported in a related article. Employees could receive their layoff notices as soon as next week, but actual separations would not occur until mid-August for civil servants and mid-October for foreign service officers.
However, some employees who had previously received RIF notices were given offboarding after Illston's order went into effect, but have since been informed that offboarding is on hold. The National Institutes of Health moved some employees to administrative leave, but has since reversed those changes.
The plaintiffs in the case, a consortium of federal employee unions, municipalities, and advocacy groups, have suggested that the renewed dismissals of probationary employees at the Housing and Urban Development Department may have violated the judge's order. Bernie, a party in the case, has stated that those firings at HUD were not subject to the injunction.
Judge Illston has asked for additional evidence before making a final decision. She has ordered the Trump administration to submit evidence proving State's reorganisation was taking place separately from Trump's demands and OMB and OPM's guidance by Monday.
As the case unfolds, the administration has asked the Supreme Court to intervene, and the high court has requested initial filings by next week. However, the U.S. Department of Justice refused to lift the order issued by Judge Illston in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
The hearing to determine whether State's reorganisation is covered by the injunction will take place on June 12 or June 13. Judge Illston is leaning towards siding with the plaintiffs, but is not ready to make a decision. The fate of thousands of federal employees hangs in the balance as the legal battle continues.
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