Judge temporarily blocks the Trump administration from firing workers during the government shutdown

SAN FRANCISCO AP President Donald Trump s administration for now must stop firing workers during the authorities shutdown a federal judge ordered on Wednesday U S District Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco declared the cuts appeared politically motivated and were being carried out without much thought It s very much ready fire aim on the bulk of these programs and it has a human cost she noted It s a human cost that cannot be tolerated She granted a temporary restraining order blocking the cuts sought by labor unions saying she supposed the evidence would ultimately show the job cuts were illegal and in excess of authority The decision came after federal agencies on Friday started issuing layoff notices aimed at reducing the size of the federal executive The layoff notices are part of an effort by Trump s Republican administration to exert more pressure on Democratic lawmakers as the executive shutdown continues The American Federation of Administration Employees and other federal labor unions had demanded Illston for a temporary restraining order blocking the administration from issuing new layoff notices and implementing those that were already sent out The unions noted the firings were an abuse of power designed to punish workers and pressure Congress Illston s order came as the shutdown which started Oct entered its third week Democratic lawmakers are demanding that any deal to reopen the federal authorities address their wellbeing care demands Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson predicted the shutdown may become the longest in history saying he won t negotiate with Democrats until they hit pause on those demands and reopen Democrats have demanded that fitness care subsidies first put in place in and extended a year later be extended again They also want any executive funding bill to reverse the Medicaid cuts in Trump s big tax breaks and spending cuts bill passed this summer The Trump administration has been paying the military and pursuing its crackdown on immigration while slashing jobs in medical and instruction including in special coaching and after-school programs Trump announced programs favored by Democrats are being targeted and they re never going to come back in a great number of cases In a court filing the administration explained it planned to fire more than employees across eight agencies The unions say the layoff notices are an illegal attempt at political pressure and retribution and are based on the false premise that a temporary funding lapse eliminates Congress authorization of agency programs The regime says the district court lacks jurisdiction to hear employment decisions made by federal agencies