Trump administration says most federal layoffs aren't blocked by court order
Source: NPR
Updated October 17, 2025 7:54 PM ET
The Trump administration says it has paused work on only a small share of the roughly 4,000 mass layoffs announced since Oct. 1, in order to comply with a court order. That includes more than 400 Department of Housing and Urban Development employees, 465 Education Department staff and 102 people with the Census Bureau, according to court filings released Friday.
Friday's court filing came amid a legal fight between the administration and two federal employee unions — the American Federation of Government Employees and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees — which sued to block what they call "politically driven RIFs," or reductions in force.
On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston in the Northern District of California granted the unions a temporary restraining order (TRO), halting some of the layoffs announced Oct. 10 and preventing new firings until she holds another hearing on Oct. 28 to consider an indefinite pause. As part of her order, Illston also directed the government to provide the court with "an accounting of all RIFs, actual or imminent, that are enjoined by this TRO."
In more than 30 declarations filed by the defendant agencies Friday afternoon, Trump administration officials provided some details about the layoffs and repeatedly stated they would not proceed with RIFs blocked by the court order. At the same time, the administration made clear it believes most of the employees who have already received layoff notices – or are expected to in the near future – are not covered by the court order, which only applies to programs or offices where the union plaintiffs have members or bargaining units.
Read more: https://www.npr.org/2025/10/17/nx-s1-5577691/layoffs-rifs-government-shutdown-trump