OMB delays firing federal workers to comply with court order
Source: Roll Call
Posted October 17, 2025 at 5:33pm
The Trump administration in court filings submitted Friday said that it was holding off firing thousands of federal workers in order to comply with a temporary restraining order issued by a federal judge in California.
The filings came ahead of a 6 p.m. Friday hearing on the status of the TRO preventing the Trump administration from carrying out the reductions in force across the federal government. The case challenges the administration’s ability to carry out the firings during a lapse in funding. District Judge Susan Illston is hearing the case in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
“OMB has not issued any RIF notices implicated by the Court’s TRO. OMB will not proceed with any RIFs prohibited by the Court’s TRO while this matter is being litigated before the Court, absent an order from a higher court providing relief,” Sarah Spooner, the White House Office of Management and Budget assistant director for management and operations, said in the filing.
In a series of additional filings from most federal departments and agencies, the administration disclosed that it had sent just under 2,500 notices to government employees, but that they remain on hold. The figure appeared to include only those workers unionized with the American Federation of Government Employees and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, who brought the case.
Read more: https://rollcall.com/2025/10/17/omb-delays-firing-federal-workers-to-comply-with-court-order/