The Supreme Court, on Tuesday, greenlighted the Trump administration to move forward with making cuts to the federal workforce in an effort to downsize the government.
In an 8-1 ruling, with Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissenting, the Supreme Court explained that they were “not ruling on the legality of a specific reorganization plan.”
The Supreme Court added that they found that U.S. District Judge Susan Illston had been “wrong” to issue an injunction halting the Trump administration from being able lay thousands of federal employees off, USA Today reported.
Attorneys for “a group of unions, non-profits and local governments” who challenged the Trump administration’s cuts to the federal workforce argued, “there will be no way to unscramble that egg” if the administration is allowed to continue with layoffs of thousands of federal employees.
The Supreme Court’s decision comes after Illston previously called for a pause of the Trump administration’s effort to downsize the federal government, stating that the “government’s effort to lay off workers and shut down offices and program created an urgent threat to scores of critical services,” the New York Times reported.
Congress set up a specific process for the federal government to reorganize itself. The unions and organizations behind the lawsuit have argued that the president does not have the authority to make those decisions without the legislative branch.
Judge Illston noted that process requires consultation with Congress on any plan to abolish or transfer part of an agency.
As Breitbart News has previously reported, the Trump administration has laid off or placed on leave employees from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The Pentagon has also started the process of letting thousands of probationary workers from the Department of Defense’s civilian department go.
The reductions to the federal workforce come as President Donald Trump issued an executive order in February, directing “Agency Heads” to prepare to make “large-scale reductions in force (RIFs).”
“Pursuant to the Presidential Memorandum of January 20, 2025 (Hiring Freeze), the Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall submit a plan to reduce the size of the Federal Government’s workforce through efficiency improvements and attrition (Plan),” the executive order from Trump stated. “The Plan shall require that each agency hire no more than one employee for every four employees that depart, consistent with the plan and any applicable exemptions and details provided for in the Plan.”
