Federal judge issues temporary order stopping job cuts
A U.S. federal judge has temporarily halted the planned mass layoffs of federal workers during the ongoing government shutdown, after the White House revealed that it expected to fire more than 10,000 workers.
The shutdown, now in its third week, has brought much of the federal government to a standstill, with Congress deadlocked in a fierce budget standoff and President Donald Trump vowing to slash the federal workforce.
District Judge Susan Illston issued the temporary restraining order on Wednesday in San Francisco. The ruling came in response to a lawsuit filed by labor unions, which argued that the layoffs are illegal and unprecedented.
Layoff notices inaccessible to some workers
According to court documents, some federal workers did not even know they were being laid off because their termination notices were sent to government email accounts, which are inaccessible during a shutdown.
Judge Illston noted that unions had received calls from pregnant employees and other vulnerable workers worried about losing health insurance but unable to get answers due to the furlough of human resources staff.
“Those who have received reductions in force notices cannot prepare for their upcoming terminations because the human resources staff who would typically assist them are also furloughed,” she stated in the seven-page court order.
Trump administration planned over 10,000 layoffs
White House budget chief Russ Vought confirmed in an earlier interview that the administration expected layoffs to surpass 10,000.
“I think we’ll probably end up being north of 10,000,” Vought said. “We want to be very aggressive where we can be in shuttering the bureaucracy.”
Court filings by the Department of Justice revealed that more than 4,000 federal employees were already terminated last Friday. The departments hardest hit include Treasury, Health and Human Services, Education, and Housing.
Vought added that those numbers were just a “snapshot” and that further layoffs were planned in the coming weeks if the shutdown continues.
Senate fails to break funding deadlock
The court order comes as the Senate failed for the ninth time to pass a House-approved funding bill championed by Republicans. The legislative stalemate has left an estimated 1.4 million federal employees either working without pay or on forced leave.
Trump has repeatedly blamed Democrats for the impasse, warning that continued opposition to his budget resolution could lead to more layoffs, particularly targeting what he described as “opposition-aligned” employees.
House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters that the U.S. was “barreling toward one of the longest shutdowns in American history,” as Congress remains polarized over spending priorities.
Military pay protected amid shutdown
To deflect political pressure, Trump ordered Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to divert available funds to ensure that 1.3 million military personnel receive their paychecks.
While the military will be paid, other federal workers — including the Capitol Police, responsible for securing Congress — missed their full paychecks this week for the first time since the shutdown began.
Many Democrats argue that Trump’s directive to prioritize military pay is legally questionable, but few have opted to challenge the move in court due to its political sensitivity.
Impact on federal employees
According to estimates from the Bipartisan Policy Center, more than 688,000 federal employees are currently working without pay, while an additional 706,000 are furloughed with no pay at all.
Meanwhile, around 832,000 essential employees are still receiving their salaries, although uncertainty looms over future paychecks if the shutdown drags on.
The White House has not announced how it intends to handle the next military payday on October 31, raising further concerns about the financial toll of the shutdown.
Political pressure intensifies
Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer condemned the firings and urged the administration to reverse them immediately.
“The administration should reverse every single firing from last week and should stop playing politics with people’s livelihoods,” Schumer said in a floor speech. “They should instead get serious about negotiation with Congress to end this shutdown at once.”
The temporary court order gives federal workers and unions a brief reprieve as the political standoff continues in Washington. Further hearings are expected in the coming days to determine whether the layoffs can be permanently blocked or delayed.
