Federal judge extends blockade on Trump's Reductions in Force at federal agencies

A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction Thursday against President Trump’s massive “reductions in force” for the federal bureaucracy, saying it looks like he’s really trying to do the sort of agency reorganization that requires permission from Congress.

Judge Susan Illston, a Clinton appointee to the court in California, said the government’s rush to carry out the RIFs, as they are known, seems more about crippling government than making it more efficient.

“In some cases, as plaintiffs’ evidence shows, agency changes intentionally or negligently flout the tasks Congress has assigned them. After dramatic staff reductions, these agencies will not be able to do what Congress has directed them to do,” she said.

That includes the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, where 221 of the 222 employees are due to be fired, and the Social Security Administration, which is looking to cut 7,000 employees and where retirees say they’re already seeing the effects with longer phone wait times.

Administration officials have argued the RIFs are being led by the agencies and aren’t specifically directed by the White House but Judge Illston said the evidence belies that.

“Put simply, in this case, defendants want the court to either declare that nine presidents and twenty-one Congresses did not properly understand the separation of powers, or ignore how the executive branch is implementing large-scale reductions in force and reorganizations. The court can do neither,” the judge wrote.

She had previously issued a temporary restraining order against carrying out the RIFs. Her new ruling is a preliminary injunction, a more lasting bar on the government, albeit one that can now be appealed.