Trump administration asks Supreme Court to allow mass federal layoffs
DOJ said the judge's order is based on the "indefensible premise" that President Donald Trump needs Congress' permission to make decisions about staffing the executive branch.
U.S. District Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco has ruled the unions, nonprofits and municipalities that are challenging the administration's efforts to downsize and reshape the federal government are likely to be successful.
"After dramatic staff reductions, these agencies will not be able to do what Congress has directed them to do," she wrote in her order halting mass layoffs and reorganizations for 22 federal agencies.
A three-judge panel on the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 on May 30 against the administration's request to block Ilston's order.
"The executive order at issue here far exceeds the president's supervisory powers under the Constitution," wrote Judge William Fletcher in an opinion joined by Judge Lucy Koh. Bother were appointed by Democratic presidents.
Judge Consuelo Callahan, who was appointed by Republican President George W. Bush, dissented, saying the administration is likely to ultimately win the court fight and is harmed by not being able to carry out its policies in the meantime.
The restructuring is central to the push by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency to shrink the federal government and drastically cut spending.
Trump has urged agencies to eliminate duplicative roles, unnecessary management layers, and non-critical jobs while automating routine tasks, closing regional offices and reducing the use of outside contractors.
Those challenging the changes say they will gut disaster relief programs, public health services, food safety inspections, and contagious disease prevention.
The Supreme Court asked the challengers to respond to Trump's request by June 9.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
21 minutes ago
- Reuters
Germany's Merz to face Trump in Oval Office on inaugural trip
BERLIN/WASHINGTON, June 5 (Reuters) - Germany's new chancellor, Friedrich Merz, will hold his first face-to-face talks with U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday in a high stakes meeting in the Oval Office as Europe seeks to stave off looming U.S. tariffs and sustain U.S. backing for Ukraine. The 69-year-old conservative, who took the helm of Europe's largest economy last month, is scheduled to join Trump for lunch and one-on-one talks that analysts say could set the tone for U.S.-German ties for years to come. Germany's export-oriented economy stands more to lose from U.S. tariffs than others and the country is also the second largest military and financial backer of Ukraine in its defence against Russia's invasion, after the United States. The meeting comes amid a broader fraying of the transatlantic relationship. Trump's administration has, for example, intervened in domestic European politics in a break with past practise, aligning with right-wing political movements and challenging European policies on immigration and free speech. The encounter will be closely watched after some recent meetings in the Oval Office, with the leaders of Ukraine and South Africa, for example, turned tense when Trump ambushed them with false claims and accusations. Merz and his entourage have sought coaching from other leaders on how to deal with Trump to avoid conflict. The meeting comes just weeks before a critical summit of the NATO Western military alliance which is looking increasingly strained given Trump's threats not to come to the aid of U.S. allies that do not up their spending on defence. Such threats are of particular concern to Germany, which has relied on U.S. nuclear deterrence for its security since the end of World War Two. Merz has already made some bold policy moves that he can highlight to appease Trump, analysts said. He has backed Trump's demand to more than double NATO's spending target to 5% of economic output, earning unprecedented praise last weekend from U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth. Merz, who has vowed a more assertive foreign policy, also coordinated a visit by European leaders to Kyiv just days after taking office, two European diplomat sources said. "This shows that Germany is willing to accept a greater responsibility for Ukraine and the European security order – these are all things that have been wished for in the United States over years and will be welcomed," said Sudha David-Wilp of the German Marshall Fund of the United States. "Germany is well-positioned to show that it can help the United States achieve its foreign policy goals." The fact Merz was invited to stay in the Blair House guest quarters across from the White House is a positive signal, said analysts. Merz and Trump could even find some common ground given their business backgrounds, their membership in right-of-centre political parties, their focus on fighting illegal immigration and their fondness for golf, said Steven Sokol, President and CEO of the American Council on Germany. They also both had run-ins with former German chancellor Angela Merkel - who once squeezed Merz out of top-level politics. Moreover Merz has described himself as "a convinced transatlanticist", chairing the "Atlantic Bridge", a non-profit fostering U.S.-German ties, for 10 years. "They might discover a kindred spirit," Sokol said. Still, Trump was unpredictable, while Merz was impulsive, warned analysts, and there were huge frictions in the relationship. "The challenge that he could face is ... if Trump says something is erroneous, do you correct him? Do you risk turning it into an argument?" said Jeffrey Rathke, a former U.S. diplomat and president of the American-German Institute at the Johns Hopkins University in Washington. "Or do you find a way to indicate that you see it differently, but not let it sidetrack the conversation." U.S. administration officials remain upset that Merz criticized Trump shortly before the 2024 U.S. election, a source familiar with its thinking said. And, on the eve of his own election victory, Merz criticised the "ultimately outrageous" comments flowing from Washington during the campaign, comparing them to hostile interventions from Russia. Another possible landmine could be a recent German proposal for a levy on online platforms such as Alphabet's Google (GOOGL.O), opens new tab, and Meta's Facebook (META.O), opens new tab, especially given Trump's close ties with the U.S. tech industry, he said.
Daily Mirror
23 minutes ago
- Daily Mirror
Biden hits back at Trump and brands him 'ridiculous' in blistering takedown
Joe Biden has branded Donald Trump "ridiculous" as he's hit back at the leader's move to investigate "who ran the US" during the previous presidency. The current US President has suggested Mr Biden's aides masked his predecessor's "cognitive decline" and questioned the legitimacy of his foe's use of the autopen to sign pardons and other documents. However, Mr Biden has quashed the world leader's claims and called them a "distraction" amid his own criticism. "Let me be clear: I made the decisions during my presidency. I made the decisions about the pardons, executive orders, legislation, and proclamations. Any suggestion that I didn't is ridiculous and false," Mr Biden, 82, said today. Mr Trump, 78, has already ordered an investigation into whether the ex-president was really running the United States between January 2021 and the start of this year, but Mr Biden has slammed this move. The former president added: "This is nothing more than a distraction by Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans who are working to push disastrous legislation that would cut essential programs like Medicaid and raise costs on American families, all to pay for tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy and big corporations." Referencing a massive reconciliation package working its way through Congress, Mr Biden rebuked his rival's flannel. It is unlikely to halt Mr Trump's move to examine Mr Biden's legacy, though, as an alarming probe will commence into "whether certain individuals conspired to deceive the public about Biden's mental state and unconstitutionally exercise the authorities and responsibilities of the President". Mr Biden, originally from Scranton, Pennsylvania, also frequently used an autopen to sign official documents. This is standard practice and has been upheld by the courts, but Mr Trump took aim at this in his rant earlier on Wednesday. The former businessman questioned the validity of the autopen, a device used for the automatic signing of a signature. It has been used in the White House, without previous controversy, for centuries since Thomas Jefferson deployed it in 1801. As technology has advanced, different models of the autopen have been manufactured, and thus used by presidents. But Mr Trump has added it to his list of things with which to gripe about Mr Biden. His administration has taken aim at the politician and his team frequently of late, including last month when Mr Trump suggested Mr Biden's delegates exposed the United States to "great danger." The whinge again centred on the use of the autopen. When Mr Biden revealed he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer, shameless Mr Trump questioned how doctors failed to diagnose the man until after he had left office, pointing the finger at Mr Biden's staff for "not telling the facts."
Sky News
24 minutes ago
- Sky News
Trump calls Putin - but we're no closer to Ukrainian peace
👉 Follow Trump100 on your podcast app 👈 Donald Trump has been back on the phone with Vladimir Putin, reportedly chatting for over an hour. But with no signs of an immediate peace deal with Ukraine following the call, Mark Stone and our Moscow correspondent Ivor Bennett discuss the potential repercussions. Separately, on Wednesday Trump announced a new travel ban to the US from 12 countries, and an additional seven countries whose nationals face partial travel restrictions. And we've had some new numbers from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, which has analysed Trump's "big beautiful" tax bill and found it would add $2.4trn to the US national debt over the next decade. here. trump100@
