Judge Blocks Trump Admin From Firing Thousands

U.S. District Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco indefinitely extended a preliminary injunction barring the Trump administration from issuing or enforcing roughly 4,000 planned layoffs during the ongoing government shutdown, preventing new RIF notices and pausing implementation of notices already sent. Illston found the administration’s actions likely unlawful and politically motivated, aligning with lawsuits by federal worker unions including AFGE and AFSCME. The judge said she may hold further evidentiary hearings and will clarify the injunction’s exact scope after the administration asked to exclude some agency-specific layoffs, such as at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the Interior Department. The ruling comes as the shutdown entered its 29th day amid failed Senate votes on a GOP funding bill and partisan fights over extending Affordable Care Act subsidies. The stalemate threatens major social programs—SNAP benefits for about 42 million Americans are at risk beginning Nov. 1, and more than two dozen states have sued to compel funding—and has raised concerns about missed paychecks and interruptions to food, heating and other assistance.