Trump Admin Asks Supreme Court to Approve Federal Workforce Reduction Plan
Administration contests judge’s ruling on temporary federal workforce reduction block.
The Trump administration has made an urgent request to the Supreme Court to intervene in a legal battle that could dramatically reshape the federal workforce. On Monday, administration officials filed an emergency appeal, seeking immediate permission to move forward with their proposed reductions in force, known as RIFs, which involve significant cuts to the number of federal employees across multiple agencies.
In the filing, government lawyers argued that a lower court’s injunction is causing "ongoing and severe harm" by disrupting the executive branch's ability to manage its own personnel. They warned that the decision has effectively frozen planned layoffs in more than a dozen federal agencies, creating substantial confusion and forcing the government to keep thousands of workers on the payroll whom it believes are no longer needed. This, they said, comes at a direct cost to taxpayers and to what the administration described as the “public interest.”
"The lower court’s order interferes with the executive branch’s internal operations and unquestioned legal authority to plan and carry out RIFs and does so on a government-wide scale," administration attorneys stated in their high-stakes appeal. The administration contends that federal agencies must have broad authority to determine their own staffing levels and that court intervention undermines the separation of powers laid out by the Constitution.
This marks the 18th time the Trump administration has turned to the Supreme Court for emergency relief since President Trump began his second term, reflecting the persistent legal battles between the White House and the judiciary over the limits of executive orders and presidential actions. With tensions simmering over the roles each branch should play, this case is shaping up to be a crucial test of the balance of power within the federal government.
This situation is developing rapidly, with potential implications for millions of federal workers and the future of executive authority. Further updates are expected as the Supreme Court weighs the administration’s request.
