Latest news with #RIFs
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump admin asks SCOTUS to allow it to move forward with plans to slash federal workforce
The Trump administration on Monday asked the Supreme Court to immediately intervene and allow them to proceed with plans to slash the size of the federal workforce, arguing in an emergency appeal that the district court's decision had inflicted "ongoing and severe harm" on the executive branch. In its emergency appeal to the high court, U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued that the lower court ruling is "flawed," and hinges on an "indefensible premise," which is that the executive brach needs Congressional authorization to make personnel decisions, such as the Reductions in Force, or RIFs. The district court order in question had barred the Trump administration from carrying out its large-scale, planned reductions in force across 21 federal agencies, and prevented the Trump administration from taking other, related actions – such as placing federal employees at those agencies on leave, or proceeding with job cuts that had already been in motion under previous RIFs. State Department Now Scrutinizing All Visa Holders Associated With Harvard Sauer argued to the Supreme Court Monday that the lower court ruling "interferes with the executive branch's internal operations and unquestioned legal authority to plan and carry out RIFs, and does so on a government-wide scale." "More concretely, the injunction has brought to a halt numerous in-progress RIFs at more than a dozen federal agencies, sowing confusion about what RIF-related steps agencies may take and compelling the government to retain – at taxpayer expense – thousands of employees whose continuance in federal service the agencies deem not to be in the government and public interest," Sauer said. Read On The Fox News App The request to the high court comes just days after a split panel for the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco refused on Friday to freeze the lower court order that blocked Trump from fully enforcing its RIFs. Will The Trump Cabinet Undo Musk's Doge Legacy Now That He's Gone? In their decision, judges for the 9th Circuit wrote that the administration's moves were "unprecedented," and noted: "The executive order at issue here far exceeds the president's supervisory powers under the Constitution." The emergency appeal marks the 18th such appeal that lawyers for the Trump administration have submitted to the Supreme Court since Trump was sworn in to his second White House term. It comes as the administration and federal judges have sparred in court over a number of executive orders and actions from the president, teeing up a high-stakes clash over the powers of the judiciary and the executive branch. The news comes after Elon Musk departed his official post heading up the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, which had been behind many of the widespread RIFs across federal agencies. His last official day was Friday, as Fox News reported. To date, however, there are no signs that the department will be winding down in his absence, and Musk himself said Friday that his departure does not mark the end of DOGE "but rather, the beginning." Fox News' Diana Stancy contributed to this article source: Trump admin asks SCOTUS to allow it to move forward with plans to slash federal workforce
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump administration asks Supreme Court to lift judge's new block on mass layoffs
The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court on Monday to lift a judge's block on mass layoffs across the federal bureaucracy, saying it rests on an 'indefensible premise' that Congress must provide authorization. It marks the administration's 18th Supreme Court emergency appeal since taking office and the second time the layoffs case has reached the justices. The administration had appealed the judge's previous block, but that ruling only lasted two weeks. The Supreme Court refused to oblige the Justice Department's request by letting the clock run out until the order expired. But the new injunction issued May 22 by San Francisco-based U.S. District Judge Susan Illston, an appointee of former President Clinton, lasts indefinitely. Ruling that Congress must authorize any large-scale reductions in force, known as an RIF, the order blocks the administration from conducting mass layoffs across a wide swath of federal agencies. 'Every day that the preliminary injunction remains in effect, a government-wide program to implement agency RIFs is being halted and delayed, maintaining a bloated and inefficient workforce while wasting countless taxpayer dollars,' Solicitor General D. John Sauer wrote in the application to the high court. The Trump administration has looked to massively reshape the federal bureaucracy alongside the new Department of Government Efficiency, including by sharply reducing the workforce at various agencies and entirely dismantling others. A coalition of labor unions, advocacy groups and local governments sued after Trump signed an executive order in February directing all agencies to prepare for an RIF. The Supreme Court appeal comes after a divided 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel declined to lift Illston's new injunction Friday. Beyond asserting that Trump has legal authority to move forward, the administration argues the suit is improper because many of the RIFs haven't been finalized and federal law requires any challenges to be channeled into specialized review boards, not the federal district courts. Justice Elena Kagan, who by default handles emergency matters arising from the 9th Circuit, ordered the plaintiffs to respond within a week. Kagan could then act on the request alone or refer it to the full court for a vote, as is typical in emergency appeals filed by the sitting administration. It won't be the first time the Supreme Court grapples with Trump's efforts to reduce the federal workforce. In April, the Supreme Court agreed to lift another judge's injunction that had blocked the administration from firing thousands of 'probationary' employees, federal workers who are often in their first or second year in a position. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump returns to Supreme Court with emergency appeal over mass firings
The Trump administration returned to the Supreme Court on Monday to ask the justices to reverse a lower court order that has blocked mass firings and major reorganizations at federal agencies, a case that could have enormous implications for the president's power to reshape the federal government. The latest emergency appeal involving President Donald Trump's second term to reach the Supreme Court followed an order last week from the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals that kept on hold Trump's plans for the sweeping layoffs – known as reductions in force, or RIFs. 'Controlling the personnel of federal agencies lies at the heartland' of the president's authority, US Solicitor General D. John Sauer told the Supreme Court in the appeal. 'The Constitution does not erect a presumption against presidential control of agency staffing, and the president does not need special permission from Congress to exercise' his core constitutional powers. The lawsuit was filed by more than a dozen unions, non-profits and local governments, which are billing it as the largest legal challenge to the Trump administration's effort to downsize the federal workforce. A senior administration official told CNN last month that it is watching the case closely because of its significance for allowing Trump to reduce the size of and restructure the federal government. Trump had asked the Supreme Court to wade into the case once before, but the Department of Justice withdrew the appeal days later when a federal district court issued a more fulsome order blocking Trump from proceeding. In its 2-1 opinion denying Trump's request to pause that district court order, the 9th Circuit panel said the Trump executive order at issue 'far exceeds the president's supervisory powers under the Constitution.' The majority concluded that the challengers were likely to succeed on the merits of their arguments that the mass layoffs were unlawful. The case stems from an executive order, which Trump signed in mid-February, that kicked off the process of the federal employees' mass culling. Agencies, which are working with the Department of Government Efficiency to carry out the mandate, were required to file reorganization plans with the administration earlier this year. But the unions have complained that the details of those plans have not been shared. Already, at least 121,000 federal workers have been laid off or targeted for layoffs since Trump took office, according to a CNN analysis. The figure doesn't include those placed on administrative leave or those who took voluntary buyouts. The order covers major reductions at more than a dozen agencies, including the departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Energy, Labor, Treasury, State, Health and Human Services, Veterans Affairs and the Environmental Protection Agency. CNN's Tierney Sneed and Paula Reid contributed to this report.
The Hill
9 hours ago
- Politics
- The Hill
Trump administration asks Supreme Court to lift judge's new block on mass layoffs
The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court on Monday to lift a judge's block on mass layoffs across the federal bureaucracy, saying it rests on an 'indefensible premise' that Congress must provide authorization. It marks the administration's 18th Supreme Court emergency appeal since taking office and the second time the case has reached the justices. The administration had appealed the judge's previous block, but that ruling only lasted two weeks. The Supreme Court refused to oblige the Justice Department's request by letting the clock run out until the order expired. But the new injunction issued on May 22 by San Francisco-based U.S. District Judge Susan Illston, an appointee of former President Clinton, lasts indefinitely. Ruling that Congress must authorize any large-scale reductions in force, known as a RIF, the order blocks the administration from conducting mass layoffs across a wide swath of federal agencies. 'Every day that the preliminary injunction remains in effect, a government-wide program to implement agency RIFs is being halted and delayed, maintaining a bloated and inefficient workforce while wasting countless taxpayer dollars,' Solicitor General D. John Sauer wrote in the application to the high court. The Trump administration has looked to massively reshape the federal bureaucracy alongside the new Department of Government Efficiency, including by sharply reducing the workforce at various agencies and entirely dismantling others. A coalition of labor unions, advocacy groups and local governments sued after Trump signed an executive order in February directing all agencies to prepare for a RIF. The Supreme Court appeal comes after a divided 9 th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel on Friday declined to lift Illston's new injunction. Beyond asserting that Trump has legal authority to move forward, the administration argues the suit is improper because many of the RIFs haven't been finalized and federal law requires any challenges to be channeled into specialized review boards, not the federal district courts. Justice Elena Kagan, who by default handles emergency matters arising from the 9th Circuit, ordered the plaintiffs to respond within a week. Kagan could then act on the request alone or refer it to the full court for a vote, as is typical in emergency appeals filed by the sitting administration. It won't be the first time the Supreme Court grapples with Trump's efforts to reduce the federal workforce. In April, the Supreme Court agreed to lift another judge's injunction that had blocked the administration from firing thousands of probationary employees, meaning federal workers who are often in their first or second year in a position.
Miami Herald
2 days ago
- Politics
- Miami Herald
Appeals court keeps pauses on Trump's mass firings at 21 agencies
May 31 (UPI) -- An three-judge federal appeals panel has kept in place a lower court's decision to pause the Trump administration's plans to downsize the federal workforce through layoffs. Late Friday, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in a 2-1 decision denied an emergency motion by the federal government to stay U.S. District Judge Susan Illston's order on May 9 that halted terminations at 21 agencies. The layoffs are called reductions in force, or RIFs. In a 45-page ruling, the appeals court in California wrote the challengers likely will win the case on the merits. The appeal panel said the Trump executive order on Feb. 13 "far exceeds the President's supervisory powers under the Constitution." The Trump administration has also asked the Supreme Court to decide and has not acted. "A single judge is attempting to unconstitutionally seize the power of hiring and firing from the Executive Branch," White House spokesman Harrison Fields told CNN in a statement. "The President has the authority to exercise the power of the entire executive branch - singular district court judges cannot abuse the power of the entire judiciary to thwart the President's agenda." Ruling for the plaintiffs were Senior Circuit Judge William Fletcher, an appointee of President Bill Clinton and Lucy Koh, selected by President Joe. Consuelo Maria Callahan, an appointee of President George W. Bush, wrote in her dissent that "the President has the right to direct agencies, and OMB and OPM to guide them, to exercise their statutory authority to lawfully conduct RIFs." Fletcher wrote: "The kind of reorganization contemplated by the Order has long been subject to Congressional approval." Illston, who was nominated by President Bill Clinton and serves in San Francisco, had backed the lawsuit by labor unions and cities filed on April 28, including San Francisco, Chicago, Baltimore and Harris County in Houston. She questioned whether Trump's administration was acting lawfully in reducing the federal workforce and felt Congress should have a role. "The President has the authority to seek changes to executive branch agencies, but he must do so in lawful ways and, in the case of large-scale reorganizations, with the cooperation of the legislative branch," Illston wrote after hearing arguments from both sides. "Many presidents have sought this cooperation before; many iterations of Congress have provided it. Nothing prevents the President from requesting this cooperation -- as he did in his prior term of office. Indeed, the Court holds the President likely must request Congressional cooperation to order the changes he seeks, and thus issues a temporary restraining order to pause large-scale reductions in force in the meantime." The coalition of organizations suing told CNN said after the appeals decision: "We are gratified by the court's decision today to allow the pause of these harmful actions to endure while our case proceeds." After Trump's executive order, the Department of Government Efficiency submitted a Workforce Optimization Initiative and the Office of Personnel Management also issued a memo. During Trump's first 100 days in office, at least 121,000 workers have been laid off or targeted for layoffs, according to a CNN analysis. There are more than 3 million workers among civilian and military personnel. Some of them have taken buyouts, "including those motivated to do so by the threat of upcoming RIFs," according to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities. That includes 10,000 at the Department of Health and Human Services through RIF as part of a plan to cut 20,000 employees. That includes 20% of the workforce of the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The agencies, run by Cabinet-level personnel, sued were Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Justice, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Justice, Labor, State and Treasury, Transportation, Veterans Affairs. The Education Department, which Trump wants to dismantle, was not listed, but 50% of the workforce has been let go. Six additional agencies with statutory basis elsewhere in the United States Code were named: AmeriCorps, General Services Administration, National Labor Relations Board, National Science Foundation, Small Business Administration and Environmental Protection Agency. Elon Musk, who officially left Friday as special White House adviser, was named in the suit. Copyright 2025 UPI News Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
