Supreme Court gives Trump the green light to cut down the federal workforce

In a significant albeit preliminary win for the president, the Supreme Court is allowing the Trump administration to go ahead with its plans to drastically reshape federal agencies by laying off employees en masse.

The unsigned decision lifts a lower court ruling that briefly stopped the Trump administration from cutting down the federal workforce while a legal challenge worked through the court system. The Supreme Court is now allowing federal agencies to slash jobs even before the legality of Trump’s plan has been decided.

A February executive order directed the heads of federal agencies to “promptly undertake preparations to initiate large-scale reductions in force (RIFs).” A coalition of unions, local governments, and nonprofit organizations soon filed suit, alleging that Trump’s attempt to reorganize the federal government was unlawful.

In May, a US District Court Judge Susan Illston from San Francisco granted a preliminary injunction pausing the mass layoffs while the lawsuit proceeds. “Agencies may not conduct large-scale reorganizations and reductions in force in blatant disregard of Congress’s mandates, and a President may not initiate large-scale executive branch reorganization without partnering with Congress,” the order reads.

The Supreme Court is now lifting that injunction on the basis that the Trump administration is “likely to succeed” in its argument that the executive order is lawful. But it chose not to weigh in on the legality of any individual agency’s RIF plan for now.

“Today’s decision has dealt a serious blow to our democracy and puts services that the American people rely on in grave jeopardy,” the coalition of groups that sued Trump said in a press release today.