In the 2-1 ruling, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denied the White House’s request to freeze the injunction.
“The Executive Order at issue here far exceeds the President’s supervisory powers under the Constitution,” the appeals court wrote.
“The President enjoys significant removal power with respect to the appointed officers of federal agencies.”
The judge’s order questioned whether President Trump’s administration was acting lawfully in trying to pare the federal workforce.
Illston’s order directs numerous federal agencies to halt acting on the president’s workforce executive order signed in February and a subsequent memo issued by DOGE and the Office of Personnel Management.
Cuts led by the Department of Government Efficiency are still on hold for the time being after an appeals court on Friday declined to freeze a California judge’s order prohibiting the Trump administration from reducing the federal workforce at the federal level.
The White House sought to freeze the injunction, but the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the request in a 2-1 decision.
“The Executive Order in question greatly surpasses the President’s constitutionally granted supervisory authority,” the appeals court stated. “With regard to the appointed officers of federal agencies, the President has considerable removal authority. “.”.
The administration had requested an urgent halt to a U.S. injunction. S. . In a case filed by cities, including Chicago and San Francisco, and labor unions, Judge Susan Illston of San Francisco presided.
In his ruling, the judge questioned whether President Trump’s administration’s efforts to reduce the federal workforce were legal.
Regards, Mr. Trump has stated time and time again that voters gave him the mandate to restructure the federal government, and he appointed billionaire Elon Musk to spearhead this effort through DOGE.
Tens of thousands of Federal employees have been placed on leave, fired, or left their jobs through deferred resignation programs. At least 75,000 federal employees took deferred resignations, and thousands of probationary employees have already been let go, though the exact number of job cuts is unknown.
Illston’s order instructs many federal agencies to stop implementing the president’s February executive order on workforce and a follow-up memo from DOGE and the Office of Personnel Management.
In her ruling, Illston—who was nominated to the bench by former President Bill Clinton—stated that presidents have the authority to completely restructure federal agencies, but only with Congress’s consent.
The executive order and memo requesting extensive staff reductions and reorganization plans, according to government lawyers, only offered broad guidelines that agencies should adhere to when making their own decisions.
