The Trump administration is once again turning to the U.S. Supreme Court in a renewed attempt to revive its sweeping plan to shrink the federal workforce, a signature initiative led by the now-departed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) head, Elon Musk.
In a new emergency appeal filed Monday, the administration, according to a report, asked the high court to overturn a lower court ruling that froze the effort to restructure the executive branch. The legal challenge comes as a broader lawsuit brought by labor unions and cities including San Francisco, Chicago, and Baltimore continues in the lower courts.
The latest filing follows a 2-1 decision by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which upheld a California district judge’s injunction blocking the job cuts. The appeals court warned of far-reaching consequences, including disruptions to food safety and veterans’ health care systems, if the downsizing continued unchecked.
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U.S. District Judge Susan Illston, who issued the original halt in April, argued that any large-scale reductions to the federal workforce require congressional approval. Her order also blocked implementation of President Trump’s February executive order and a subsequent directive co-issued by DOGE and the Office of Personnel Management.
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Challenging that ruling, Solicitor General D. John Sauer criticized the legal foundation of Illston’s decision in the administration’s new brief. “Illston’s order rests on the indefensible premise that the President needs explicit statutory authorization from Congress to exercise his core Article II authority to superintend the internal personnel decisions of the Executive Branch,” Sauer wrote.
President Donald Trump has long claimed that the 2024 election gave him a mandate to “remake” the federal government. He enlisted billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk to spearhead the initiative through DOGE. Musk stepped down last week as his tenure concluded.
The workforce overhaul, now on pause, has already triggered mass departures from federal agencies. Over 75,000 employees have reportedly accepted deferred resignation offers, while thousands of probationary workers have been dismissed.
Judge Illston’s order affects a wide range of agencies, including the departments of Agriculture, Labor, Treasury, State, Energy, Veterans Affairs, and the Environmental Protection Agency, as well as the Small Business Association and the National Science Foundation.
Meanwhile, a parallel legal challenge over the termination of probationary workers is playing out before another San Francisco judge. In that case, Judge William Alsup ordered their reinstatement in March, a ruling that was later blocked by the U.S. Supreme Court.
The high court has now given the unions and cities until next Monday to respond to the administration’s latest appeal, setting the stage for yet another high-stakes showdown over executive power and the future of the federal workforce.
