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The US Supreme Court on Tuesday gave the green light to President Donald Trump’s plan to reduce the size of the federal workforce despite concerns that it could disrupt essential government services and potentially leave thousands of federal employees unemployed.
The ruling overrides lower court orders that had temporarily blocked the cuts, which have been spearheaded by the Department of Government Efficiency, as reported by AP. “This executive action promises mass employee terminations, widespread cancellation of federal programs and services, and the dismantling of much of the Federal Government as Congress has created it," wrote Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson and accused her colleagues of demonstrating, “enthusiasm for greenlighting this President’s legally dubious actions in an emergency posture.” In an unsigned order, the court had noted that it was not reviewing any specific job cuts but rather an executive order issued by Trump and a directive from his administration instructing to undertake job reductions. Tens of thousands of federal workers have already been laid off, either leaving their jobs through delayed resignation plans or being put on leave. At least 75,000 employees have taken deferred resignation and thousands of workers in the probation period are left unemployed.
A coalition of unions, non-profit and local governments that sued to stop the administration’s mass layoffs said on Tuesday that the supreme court, "dealt a serious blow to our democracy and puts services that the American people rely on in grave jeopardy,” as reported by Reuters.The labor unions and nonprofits that challenged the downsizing told the justices it could lead to staffing cuts of 40 to 50 percent at several agencies if allowed to proceed.
Cities like Baltimore, Chicago and San Francisco were among those who sued.In recent times, the supreme court has sided with Trump’s decisions, and judges have allowed him to move forward with key elements of his efforts to renew the federal government. So far, the Supreme Court has stepped in mainly in response to emergency appeals from the Justice Department, which argues that lower-court rulings have wrongly interfered with presidential powers.Trump has consistently claimed that the voters gave him the mandate to carry out reforms and as such had appointed his former ally, Elon Musk, to lead the effort through DOGE, as reported by AP. Musk has since stepped down from his role. District Judge Susan Illston ruled that the Trump administration must obtain congressional approval to carry out major cuts to the federal workforce. A 2-1 panel decision from the US 9th Circuit Court upheld her order, warning that the proposed slashing could have wide-reaching effects, including challenges in the food safety and healthcare systems for veterans. The Justice Department stated in its filing to the Supreme Court that controlling federal agency personnel “lies at the heartland” of the president’s executive branch authority. "The Constitution does not erect a presumption against presidential control of agency staffing, and the president does not need special permission from Congress to exercise core Article II powers," said the filing, as reported by Reuters. Illston had ordered multiple federal agencies to stop implementing the president’s workforce executive order, signed earlier in February, along with a follow-up memo from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and the Office of Personnel Management.The order greatly affects agencies like departments of Energy, Labour, Agriculture, the Treasury, the Interior, State, as well as Veterans Affairs. It also affects the National Science Foundation, Small Business Association, Social Security Administration, and Environmental Protection agency.
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