A San Francisco federal judge said she would block hundreds of planned Trump administration layoffs, finding they likely violate the law that ended a 43-day government shutdown. Judge Susan Illston moved to prevent about 250 State Department and 150 Education Department job cuts and indicated she may order four agencies to reinstate roughly 300 workers laid off during the shutdown. Illston said she may briefly stay her order to allow the government to appeal, and unions praised the decision.
U.S. Judge Moves To Block Hundreds Of Trump Administration Layoffs Citing Shutdown Law
The U.S. Department of Education headquarters as U.S. President Donald Trump's administration is taking steps to dismantle the department, in Washington, D.C., U.S., November 20, 2025. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
A federal judge in San Francisco on Wednesday announced she would bar the Trump administration from carrying out hundreds of planned federal job cuts, finding the reductions likely violate a law Congress passed to end a 43-day government shutdown.
Judge's Ruling
U.S. District Judge Susan Illston, an appointee of former President Bill Clinton, told a hearing the mass layoffs at several agencies likely run afoul of the continuing resolution that ended the shutdown. Illston said she would temporarily block the State Department and the Education Department from cutting roughly 250 and 150 employees, respectively, while a unions' lawsuit proceeds.
"The chaotic nature of these [layoffs] has been continuing and has affected employees of the government in many ways, including loss of potential alternative jobs and loss of healthcare coverage," Illston said.
Reinstatements and Agencies Affected
Illston also indicated she intends to order the State Department, the Defense Department, the General Services Administration (GSA), and the Small Business Administration (SBA) to reinstate roughly 300 people who lost their jobs during the shutdown. The unions' suit, first filed in October, originally sought to block more than 4,000 planned layoffs across multiple agencies.
Legal Context And Next Steps
The continuing resolution that ended the shutdown bars agencies from implementing layoffs through January 30. The Trump administration has argued that the restriction does not apply to job cuts announced before the shutdown began on October 1, pointing to planned reductions at the State and Education departments. At Wednesday's hearing, Illston disagreed and sided with the American Federation of Government Employees and other unions.
The judge said she would issue a written order detailing her decision and signaled she would likely pause (stay) all or part of the injunction until next week to give the government an opportunity to appeal. Illston said she did not want to worsen the "whiplash" for federal workers who have been laid off and reinstated multiple times this year.
Reactions
The unions involved in the litigation praised Illston's decision. Skye Perryman, president of Democracy Forward, the legal group representing the unions, criticized the administration in a statement:
"No one should be surprised when President Trump breaks his word, but to directly contradict a law he just signed himself is an unfortunate reminder that we cannot trust a single thing this president and his administration says or does."
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The ruling is the latest judicial check on the administration's efforts to downsize the federal workforce.
Reporting: Daniel Wiessner. Editing: Alexia Garamfalvi and Aurora Ellis.
