Stephen Fowler
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Judge Susan Ilsen of California said the Trump administration's push to fire workers during the shutdown was hastily done and illegal.
During a hearing, she said efforts to lay off more than 4,000 federal workers and the subsequent reversal of some notices was like, quote, ready, fire, aim.
So for now, those reductions in force and any future ones are on hold.
The White House has painted the firings as financially necessary and a leverage point to get Democratic lawmakers to agree to a spending plan that reopens the government.
Judge Susan Ilsen of California said the Trump administration's push to fire workers during the shutdown was hastily done and illegal.
During a hearing, she said efforts to lay off more than 4,000 federal workers and the subsequent reversal of some notices was like, quote, ready, fire, aim.
So for now, those reductions in force and any future ones are on hold.
The White House has painted the firings as financially necessary and a leverage point to get Democratic lawmakers to agree to a spending plan that reopens the government.
About 4,200 people across seven agencies were slated to receive reduction in force notices Friday, including about 1,500 in the Treasury Department and 1,200 at the Department of Health and Human Services.
Earlier in the day, the White House Budget Office called the layoffs, quote, substantial, and President Trump said the cuts would be, quote, a lot.
After earlier cuts to the federal workforce made by the Doge effort and voluntary buyouts, there are about 2 million civilian federal employees.
Stephen Fowler, NPR News, Atlanta.
Some agencies are telling employees layoffs will come soon.
Others, like the Department of Health and Human Services, have already notified affected staff.
The Trump administration blames Democrats and the shutdown for ordering the reductions, but firing federal workers has been a priority of the president since he took office in January.
The layoffs come as some agencies, before the shutdown, were hiring back workers because they couldn't perform basic tasks or carry out Trump's agenda.
A suspect was pointed out to our officers on the scene. Our officers immediately encountered that suspect who was taken into custody without incident. That suspect, who I'm not able to ID at this time, was taken to the hospital with some minor injuries as well.