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 9th 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.