Supreme Court clears the way for Trump’s plans to downsize the federal workforce
WASHINGTON AP The Supreme Court on Tuesday cleared the way for President Donald Trump s plans to downsize the federal workforce despite warnings that critical authorities services will be lost and hundreds of thousands of federal employees will be out of their jobs The justices overrode lower court orders that temporarily froze the cuts which have been led by the Department of Cabinet Efficiency Related Articles Immigrants deported from US to Salvadoran prison remain under US control Salvadoran bureaucrats tell UN Debate erupts over role job cuts played in weather forecasts ahead of deadly Texas floods Musk says he s forming a new political party after split with Trump over tax cuts law Trump to put tariffs on Japan and South Korea new import taxes on five other nations Trump and Netanyahu take a conquest lap to mark strikes on Iran nuclear facilities The court stated in an unsigned order that no specific cuts were in front of the justices only an executive order issued by Trump and an administration directive for agencies to undertake job reductions Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was the only dissenting vote accusing her colleagues of a demonstrated enthusiasm for greenlighting this President s legally dubious actions in an emergency posture Trump has repeatedly reported voters gave him a mandate to remake the federal governing body and he tapped billionaire ally Elon Musk to lead the charge through DOGE Musk not long ago left his role Tens of thousands of federal workers have been fired have left their jobs via deferred resignation programs or have been placed on leave There is no official figure for the job cuts but at least federal employees took deferred resignation and thousands of probationary workers have already been let go In May U S District Judge Susan Illston identified that Trump s administration demands congressional approval to make sizable reductions to the federal workforce By a - vote a panel of the U S th Circuit Court of Appeals refused to block Illston s order finding that the downsizing could have broader effects including on the nation s food-safety system and healthcare care for veterans Illston directed 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 Illston was nominated by former Democratic President Bill Clinton The labor unions and nonprofit groups that sued over the downsizing offered the justices several examples of what would happen if it were allowed to take effect including cuts of to at several agencies Among the agencies affected by the order are the departments of Agriculture Ability Labor the Interior State the Treasury and Veterans Affairs It also applies to the National Science Foundation Small Business Association Social Measure Administration and Environmental Protection Agency