As of March, over 58,000 federal employees were laid off due to President Donald Trump’s war on government agencies. Even more folks were bracing themselves to be kicked out of the job. However, a federal judge has come down with a ruling to get in front of it which is great news for 10 percent of Black federal workers in the state.
Judge Susan Illston of the Federal District Court for the Northern District of California issued an order to protect up to 22 agencies — including veteran affairs, housing and urban development as well as the treasury — from feeling the wrath of Trump’s layoff sweep, per The New York Times. About 37 percent of Black federal workers are veterans, per The Economic Policy Institute.
The order also says the administration is not allowed to shut down the offices all together nor take on any orders from Elon Musk’s DOGE to cut programs. The judge straight-up accused Trump of not following the law.
“Presidents may set policy priorities for the executive branch, and agency heads may implement them. This much is undisputed. Agencies may not conduct large-scale reorganizations and reductions in force in blatant disregard of Congress’s mandates, and a president may not initiate large-scale executive branch reorganization without partnering with Congress,” wrote Illston in her ruling.
The order also calls for the reinstatement of probationary employees who were placed on administrative leave and addresses “reduction force” which has pushed thousands of federal employees on administrative leave, awaiting eventual termination.
“I’m concerned about the effect of all of this litigation on the lives of the people who are being affected and being hired and rehired and furloughed. And I think we need to preserve as much order as we can for those people,” said Judge Illston Thursday during a hearing, via The Times.
Mind you, this isn’t the first time this particular judge clocked Trump at the door. Two weeks ago, Illston issued a two-week temporary restraining order, forcing the Trump administration to pause its layoff marathon, per CBS News.
Trump’s administration requested the Supreme Court overrule the California judge but their ruling hasn’t come down yet.
As The Root previously reported, since Trump’s first day in office he’s been signing executives orders left and right to dismantle the DEI programs built into federal agencies under the Biden administration which led to its own set of mass layoffs. As a result, Black and brown were disproportionately affected. Former President Joe Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris massively expanded the federal government’s DEI bureaucracy, which Trump is vehemently going after.
Judge Illston’s move is only latest lawsuit to come against the Trump administration as Musk continues to encourage the White House to clean house and essentially, muddle down government agencies deemed a waste of money. A federal judge in Boston just put his hand up, barring the administration from firing half of the Department of Education workforce, per ABC News. Trump can keep pushing if he wants to, but it’s obvious he’ll keep having pushback.