Federal Worker Unions Ask Judge to Halt Shutdown Layoffs
Source: Bloomberg
October 10, 2025 at 1:52 PM EDT
Updated on October 10, 2025 at 2:51 PM EDT
Unions representing hundreds of thousands of federal workers asked a judge to immediately halt mass layoffs that the White House announced on Friday amid the government shutdown. The emergency request to a federal judge in San Francisco followed a social media post by White House budget director Russell Vought that firings known as reductions-in-force, or RIFS, “have begun.”
The unions asked US District Judge Susan Illston to stop the Office of Management and Budget from ordering agencies to carry out the firings and halt officials from issuing layoff notices before the judge holds a previously scheduled hearing on Oct. 16.
Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, one of the unions, said in a statement that “it is disgraceful that the Trump administration has used the government shutdown as an excuse to illegally fire thousands of workers who provide critical services to communities across the country.”
The unions argue that there is no legal authority for the White House plan to permanently shed workers and that their members are likely to face “irreparable harm” without the court’s intervention to maintain the status quo. A spokesperson for the budget office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The Justice Department is due to file a response later in the day detailing the status of layoff plans under an earlier order from Illston.
Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-10-10/federal-worker-unions-seek-immediate-halt-to-shutdown-layoffs
No paywall (gift)
Heard this on my local news radio this afternoon.
Link to SUPPLEMENTAL FILING (PDF) - https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.457131/gov.uscourts.cand.457131.38.0.pdf
AFGE STATEMENT - AFGE President Everett Kelley Condemns Trump Administration Illegal Mass firings
REFERENCE (original suit) - https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143539876
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