Trump administration says most federal layoffs aren't blocked by court order

Unions representing federal employees say the Trump administration is planning to conduct mass firings at the Interior Department despite a court order temporarily blocking layoffs during the shutdown.

The disclosure came amid a legal fight between the administration and two federal employee unions — the American Federation of Government Employees and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees — which sued to block what they call "politically driven RIFs," or reductions in force.

In a declaration filed with the court late Thursday, the plaintiffs' attorney Danielle Leonard wrote that "multiple credible sources" said that the Interior Department was actively preparing to lay off thousands of employees starting Monday.

"This immediately raised concerns regarding compliance with this Court's order," Leonard wrote in a declaration. When the plaintiffs asked government lawyers about the claim Thursday afternoon, a Justice Department attorney responded that "consistent with the Court's order, we will produce the required information tomorrow."

In response, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston agreed to move up the deadline she had imposed on the government to provide the court with "an accounting of all RIFs, actual or imminent, that are enjoined by this [temporary restraining order]."

Illston has now asked the government to provide, by 2 p.m. ET Friday, details on the number of employees affected and a description of the programs and activities targeted for cuts.

Earlier this week, the Trump administration had informed the court that federal agencies had begun the RIF process at eight different agencies, affecting just over 4,000 people. The slight downward revision from what the administration had provided last Friday included the disclosure that roughly 800 employees within the Department of Health and Human Services were erroneously issued layoff notices.

Donald Trump listens to other speakers after delivering remarks during an event in the Oval Office of the White House on October 16.

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The declaration, from Office of Management and Budget senior advisor Stephen Billy, emphasized that "the situation… is fluid and rapidly evolving."

After a hearing on Wednesday, Illston granted the unions a temporary restraining order, halting the Oct. 10 layoff notices and preventing new firings until a hearing on a permanent injunction, scheduled for Oct. 28.

Illston characterized the Trump administration's approach to the RIFs as "ready, fire, aim" in the Wednesday hearing and said the administration was seeking to take advantage of the lapse in funding "to assume that that all bets are off, that the laws don't apply to them anymore, and that they can impose the structures that they like on a government situation that they don't like."

In response, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called Illston "another far left, partisan judge."

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Leavitt added that the White House is confident their actions are legal and called the layoffs "an unfortunate consequence" of the government shutdown.

While the White House promised "substantial" firings during the shutdown, the layoffs announced so far amount to only a fraction of the federal employees who have left the government since Trump returned to the White House in January.

Back in August, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) said roughly 300,000 federal workers would be gone from the government by the end of the year. OPM director Scott Kupor told news outlets that 80% of those departures were voluntary.

That means even prior to the shutdown, roughly 60,000 federal workers faced involuntary separation.

Another 154,000 workers took the Trump administration's "Fork in the Road" buyout offer, according to OPM. Many who took the buyout told NPR they feared they would be fired if they didn't leave.

OMB Director Russ Vought said Wednesday close to 10,000 people could receive layoff notices during the shutdown, shortly before the judge blocked firing plans from taking effect.
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