Updated May 10, 2025 at 5:11 AM CDT
A federal judge in San Francisco has temporarily blocked the Trump administration's sweeping overhaul of the federal government.
The ruling from U.S. District Judge Susan Illston, a Clinton appointee, came after a hearing Friday in a lawsuit filed by a coalition of labor unions, nonprofits and local governments.
The plaintiffs argue in their complaint that President Trump's efforts to "radically restructure and dismantle the federal government" without any authorization from Congress violate the Constitution.
Illston agreed with the plaintiffs, asserting in the hearing that Supreme Court precedent makes clear that while the president does have the authority to seek changes at agencies, he must do so in lawful ways.
"[T]o make large-scale overhauls of federal agencies," she wrote in her ruling Friday evening, "any president must enlist the help of his co-equal branch and partner, the Congress."
Illston issued a temporary restraining order pausing further implementation of Trump's Feb. 11 executive order directing agencies to begin major reorganizations, as well as subsequent memos from his administration instructing agencies how to comply. Her order applies to 20 federal agencies, including the Departments of State, Treasury and Veterans Affairs, and the Department of Government Efficiency.
Her order explicitly pauses the implementation of any existing reduction-in-force (RIF) notices, delaying while her order is in effect final separation for any employees who have received such notices. The order also pauses the issuance of any future RIF notices and the placement of additional employees on administrative leave.
During Friday's hearing, Illston said a temporary restraining order was necessary "to protect the power of the legislative branch."
She noted that in his first term, Trump did in fact seek Congress' approval for similar restructuring plans. "He could have done that here, but he didn't," Illston said.
The order is in effect for 14 days, through May 23. Although temporary restraining orders, intended to be stop-gap measures, are generally not appealable, the Trump administration nevertheless filed an appeal with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals hours after Illston issued her decision.
The case is just the latest in a string of court battles testing the limits of Trump's executive authority.
In court filings, his administration has argued that he has "inherent authority" to exercise control over those executing the nation's laws.
The government argued a temporary restraining order was inappropriate
In court on Friday, the Trump administration's lawyer, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Eric Hamilton, argued the plaintiffs' request for a temporary restraining order was inappropriate given how much time has lapsed since Trump first signed the executive order to reshape the government.
"Plaintiffs are not entitled to any TRO because they waited far too long to bring this motion and any 'emergency' is thus entirely of their own making," he and other attorneys wrote in an earlier court filing.
The plaintiffs' attorneys have argued that only now have they been able to ascertain what agencies are doing to carry out Trump's directives, given the secrecy with which his administration has been operating.
"They're trying to insulate from judicial review an unlawful set of instructions by not making public how they're being implemented," plaintiffs' lawyer Danielle Leonard told the court on Friday.
As part of her ruling, Illston ordered the Trump administration to provide the court and the plaintiffs with the restructuring plans submitted by the agencies named as defendants in the case, as well as such plans already approved by the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Personnel Management, by Tuesday, May 13.
Another argument Hamilton raised was one the government has cited in numerous other cases involving federal employees: that the court lacks jurisdiction to hear the case. Instead, matters involving personnel issues within the federal government must be brought to the bodies Congress created to hear such complaints, he said.
Illston appeared unpersuaded by that argument, questioning Hamilton over whether the matter at hand — a radical overhaul of the entire government — was one Congress intended to go through those administrative channels.
Relief sought as layoffs had begun
The plaintiffs in the case, including the American Federation of Government Employees and several of its local branches, the American Public Health Association and the cities of Chicago, Baltimore and San Francisco, had sought relief as agencies had already begun mass layoffs.
Already, the plaintiffs' lawyers argued, agencies including the Departments of Health and Human Services and Veterans Affairs are executing plans "not based on their own independent analysis or reasoned decision-making" but instead in accordance with the president's executive order and accompanying instructions from Elon Musk's DOGE team, the Office of Personnel Management and the Office of Management and Budget.
The Trump administration has defended the executive order, arguing it merely provides direction in very broad terms, while making clear any actions taken must be "consistent with applicable law."
"This type of directive is a straightforward way for a President to exercise his undoubted authority to require a subordinate agency to determine what the law allows and then take whatever action is legally available to promote the President's priorities," the government's attorneys wrote in court filings.
In court, Leonard said the government's take was not an accurate description of the executive order.
"This is a mandatory order instructing agencies to begin RIFs now and to do so in the manner the president is directing," she said.
Judge Illston's 14-day temporary restraining order applies to the following agencies:
- Office of Management and Budget
- Office of Personnel Management
- Department of Agriculture
- Department of Commerce
- Department of Energy
- Department of Health and Human Services
- Department of Housing and Urban Development
- Department of the Interior
- Department of Labor
- Department of State
- Treasury Department
- Department of Transportation
- Department of Veterans Affairs
- AmeriCorps
- Environmental Protection Agency
- General Services Administration
- National Labor Relations Board
- National Science Foundation
- Small Business Administration
- Social Security Administration
- Department of Government Efficiency (not a formally established government agency)
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