A federal judge ruled that the Trump administration must stop firing federal workers during the government shutdown.
U.S. District Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco issued the emergency ruling Wednesday, temporarily putting a hold on layoff notices that federal agencies started sending out last week.
The Trump administration has been trying to cut down on spending during the government shutdown that is now in its third week.
“It’s very much ready, fire, aim on most of these programs, and it has a human cost,” Judge Illston said. “It’s a human cost that cannot be tolerated.”
Labor unions have sued to stop the firings and asked Judge Illston for a temporary restraining order blocking new firings and the implementation of the notices already sent out.
The administration said it planned over 4,000 layoffs from the departments of Commerce, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Homeland Security and Treasury.
Meanwhile, the ongoing government shutdown is delaying the announcement of the annual Social Security cost-of-living adjustment for tens of millions of beneficiaries. Originally scheduled for Wednesday, the 2024 Social Security COLA announcement will now be Oct. 24. It is timed to the September Consumer Price Index, which also has not yet been released.
Senate Democrats have been filibustering a short-term spending bill that would end the shutdown, which started when funding ran out on Oct. 1. The Democrats are demanding that any new spending include $1.5 trillion for health care and other priorities, such as extending a pandemic-era expansion of Obamacare subsidies.
Earlier Wednesday, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought said the number of government workers laid off during the shutdown could exceed 10,000.
That figure is more than double what the White House said it was cutting last week.
“We want to be very aggressive where we can be in shuttering the bureaucracy, not just the funding,” Mr. Vought said on “The Charlie Kirk Show” that was broadcast live from the White House. “We now have an opportunity to do that, and that’s where we’re going to be looking for our opportunities.”
He said the reductions in force will keep rolling throughout the shutdown.
A court filing last week showed that more than 4,000 employees were receiving notices at the departments of Commerce, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Homeland Security and Treasury.
“I think we’ll probably end up being north of 10,000,” Mr. Vought said. “If I can only work on saving money, then I’m going to do everything I can to look for opportunities to downsize in areas where this administration has thought, well, this is our way towards a balanced budget.”
• This story includes wire service reports.
