Mar 22, 2025; Philadelphia, PA, USA; President Donald Trump during the Division I Men's Wrestling Championship held at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images
Washington D.C. – The Trump administration has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to allow it to proceed with plans to lay off thousands of federal workers, seeking emergency relief after lower courts temporarily blocked the president’s sweeping effort to restructure the federal government.
The Justice Department’s petition, filed Monday, comes in the middle of a larger legal fight over the administration’s authority to execute reductions-in-force (RIFs) across 21 federal agencies. These efforts are part of a larger strategy, initiated by President Trump shortly after returning to office, to significantly reduce the size of the federal workforce and dismantle what he has frequently called the “administrative state.”
The administration’s latest request follows a setback at the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which declined to stay a preliminary injunction issued by U.S. District Judge Susan Illston. That injunction, now at the center of the legal fight, halted layoffs already underway, barred agencies from placing employees on administrative leave, and blocked any directives issued by the president’s cost-cutting task force — the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
In its filing, the Justice Department argued that Illston’s order improperly intrudes on the president’s authority to manage personnel decisions within the executive branch. Solicitor General D. John Sauer contended that requiring congressional approval for such decisions places undue constraints on presidential power and disrupts ongoing workforce restructuring, compelling agencies to retain employees at what he described as “significant taxpayer expense.”
The administration’s case rests on a controversial executive order issued in February, which directed federal agencies to prepare for mass layoffs and reorganizations. In response, the White House instructed agencies to submit plans to the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Personnel Management detailing phased job reductions. While some agencies have already executed cuts, others remain in limbo due to the injunction.
The legal pushback has been swift. Labor unions, nonprofits, and state and local governments have filed lawsuits, arguing that the president’s executive order violates constitutional limits by bypassing Congress, which has legislative control over the creation, funding, and scope of federal agencies.
Illston’s ruling underscored this point. In a 51-page opinion, she wrote that while presidents may set executive branch priorities, any large-scale reorganization requires congressional partnership — a principle upheld throughout the past century by both Democratic and Republican administrations.
The agencies affected include high-profile entities such as the Departments of Health and Human Services, Veterans Affairs, AmeriCorps, and the Social Security Administration. Though the ruling does not prevent agencies from independently proposing changes to Congress, it temporarily halts any structural changes implemented under DOGE’s directives.
