A federal judge just issued a temporary restraining order that completely blocks the Trump administration from firing thousands of federal workers during the ongoing government shutdown. U.S. District Judge Susan Yvonne Illston, working out of the Northern District of California, didn’t mince words, declaring that the administration’s action was “illegal, in excess of authority and arbitrary and capricious.”
This is huge news for over 4,000 federal employees who had already received reduction-in-force (RIF) notices, a process that basically means you’re getting laid off. The judge’s ruling came after two major labor unions sued to stop the firings, arguing that using a government shutdown to clean house was not only cruel but also totally unlawful. This is the same president who doesn’t want to give them backpay either.
