Judge temporarily blocks firings by Trump administration during shutdown

"The evidence suggests that the office of management and budget, OMB, and the office of personnel management, OPM, have taken advantage of the lapse in government spending, in government functioning to assume that all bets are off, that the laws don't apply to them any more, and that they can impose the structures that they like on the government situation that they don't like."

"I find, I believe, that the plaintiffs will demonstrate, ultimately, that what's being done here is both illegal and is in excess of authority and is arbitrary and capricious."

"The ruling comes as Russ Vought, the White House OMB director, said on The Charlie Kirk Show that more cuts were coming, claiming the firings could be north of 10,000 workers. On Friday, the Trump administration announced reductions in force across seven federal agencies, with at least 4,100 workers affected, citing the shutdown as justification for the firings."

Judge Susan Illston granted a temporary injunction blocking firings of federal employees carried out during the shutdown. Illston found evidence that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) treated the lapse in funding as a license to assume laws no longer applied and to impose preferred structures. The judge stated plaintiffs are likely to show the actions were illegal, beyond authority, and arbitrary and capricious. Justice Department attorney Elizabeth Hedges declined to address merits. The injunction is in effect while unions AFGE and AFSCME pursue their lawsuit alleging illegal firing threats.

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