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Trump asks Supreme Court to clear way for federal job cuts
President Donald Trump's administration renewed its request for the Supreme Court to clear the way for plans to downsize the federal workforce, while a lawsuit filed by labour unions and cities proceeds.. read more
The Trump administration on Monday renewed its request for the U.S. Supreme Court to greenlight sweeping federal workforce cuts, arguing that lower court rulings have unlawfully blocked a core presidential power while a broader legal challenge plays out.
The emergency appeal comes after the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals declined to freeze a California judge's injunction halting the downsizing efforts, which have been spearheaded by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The department previously led by Elon Musk has overseen thousands of job eliminations across multiple federal agencies.
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In its 2–1 ruling, the appeals panel cited potential 'irreparable harm' to critical government services, including food safety and veterans' health care. The Trump administration disputes that assessment, insisting the president is acting within his constitutional authority.
In her April ruling, US District Judge Susan Illston said Trump needed 'explicit statutory authorisation from Congress' for such large-scale reductions, a finding Solicitor General D. John Sauer blasted as an 'indefensible premise' in the new Supreme Court filing.
Trump argues that his 2024 election victory gave him a clear mandate to overhaul the federal bureaucracy. More than 75,000 federal workers have already exited through a deferred resignation program, and thousands more, particularly probationary employees, have been terminated or placed on leave. However, no official tally has been released.
Tens of thousands of federal workers have been fired, have left their jobs via deferred resignation programmes, or have been placed on leave. There is no official figure for the job cuts, but at least 75,000 federal employees took deferred resignation, and thousands of probationary workers have already been let go.
Illston's order directs numerous federal agencies to halt acting on the president's workforce executive order signed in February and a subsequent memo issued by DOGE and the Office of Personnel Management. Illston was nominated by former Democratic President Bill Clinton.
Among the agencies affected by the order are the departments of Agriculture, Energy, Labour, the Interior, State, the Treasury and Veterans Affairs. It also applies to the National Science Foundation, Small Business Association, Social Security Administration and Environmental Protection Agency.
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The Supreme Court set a deadline of next Monday for a response from the unions and cities, including Baltimore, Chicago and San Francisco.
Some of the labour unions and nonprofit groups are also plaintiffs in another lawsuit before a San Francisco judge challenging the mass firings of probationary workers.
In that case, Judge William Alsup ordered the government in March to reinstate those workers, but the US Supreme Court later blocked his order.
With inputs from agencies
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