Federal Unions Sue to Block Trump Layoffs

Two federal worker unions — the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), with local affiliates and allied legal groups — filed suit in federal court in San Francisco (Northern District of California) to block planned mass layoffs if the government shuts down. The complaint names the Office of Management and Budget and Director Russell Vought and the Office of Personnel Management and Director Scott Kupor, alleging an OMB memo and related guidance improperly directed agencies to prepare reduction-in-force (RIF) plans and allowed employees to work during a lapse in appropriations to effectuate firings. The unions say those steps violate the Antideficiency Act and other statutes that generally require furloughs (with back pay when funding is restored), and they call the administration’s actions arbitrary, capricious and unlawful. The suit seeks a court declaration and an injunction invalidating any RIFs implemented during a funding lapse, and union leaders warned the move could put potentially tens of thousands of federal jobs at risk. The litigation was filed as a shutdown deadline approached and the White House had not provided specific layoff plans.