The Supreme Court ruled 8-1 that the Trump administration can proceed with its intention to reduce the federal workforce. The Court lifted an injunction from a lower court that blocked Trump’s executive order calling for “large-scale reductions in force (RIFs).”
“Because the Government is likely to succeed on its argument that the Executive Order and Memorandum are lawful—and because the other factors bearing on whether to grant a stay are satisfied—we grant the application,” the Court wrote. “We express no view on the legality of any Agency RIF and Reorganization Plan produced or approved pursuant to the Executive Order and Memorandum.”
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson issued a dissent, stating the decision was “senseless.”
“In my view, this was the wrong decision at the wrong moment, especially given what little this Court knows about what is actually happening on the ground,” Jackson wrote, adding, “I see no basis to conclude that the District Court erred—let alone clearly so—in finding that the President is attempting to fundamentally restructure the Federal Government.”
Justice Sonia Sotomayor noted that the restructuring plans themselves “are not before this Court, at this stage, and we thus have no occasion to consider whether they can and will be carried out consistent with the constraints of law.”
President Trump’s February executive order states that the administration plans to “restore accountability to the American public” through a “critical transformation of the Federal bureaucracy.”
“By eliminating waste, bloat, and insularity, my Administration will empower American families, workers, taxpayers, and our system of Government itself,” the order says.
