Oct 28, 2025 - Business

Trump indefinitely barred from firing federal workers during shutdown

Emily Peck

WASHINGTON, DC October 23: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) speaks to the press on the steps of the US Capitol Building on Thursday October 23, 2025. Day 23 of the US government shutdown has become the second-longest in history. — House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) speaks to the press on the steps of the US Capitol Building. (Photo by Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

A federal judge extended her order barring the White House from firing federal workers in a ruling on Tuesday, per multiple reports.

Why it matters: The White House has been thwarted so far in using the shutdown to extend its purge of the federal workforce.

Zoom in: Judge Susan Illston with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California temporarily blocked the Trump administration from firing workers earlier this month — that ruling was set to expire Wednesday.

Tuesday's order, also called a preliminary injunction, extends that injunction "indefinitely."
Illston issued the order during a hearing in San Francisco, according to NBC News.

What they're saying: "Today's ruling is another victory for federal workers and our ongoing efforts to protect their jobs from an administration hellbent on illegally firing them," Lee Saunders, the president of AFSCME, a federal workers union, said in a statement.

Catch up quick: Office of Management and Budget head Russell Vought has said he'd like to terminate as many as 10,000 federal workers during the government shutdown. Reduction in force (RIF) notices have already gone out to about 4,000.

The lawsuit was filed by federal worker unions earlier at the end of September in anticipation of the layoffs.

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Trump indefinitely barred from firing federal workers during shutdown

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