'Cannot be retroactively repaired': Trump administration unlawfully fired federal workers during government shutdown, judge rules

A justice has ordered the Trump administration to reinstate hundreds of national workers to their jobs, uncovering that respective national agencies unlawfully terminated them during the caller authorities shutdown.

U.S. District Judge Susan Illston issued a preliminary injunction this week commanding six agencies to rescind their simplification successful unit (RIF) notices "executed oregon implemented" betwixt Oct. 1 and Nov. 12. These agencies are the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Office of Personnel Management (OPM), Department of State, Department of Education, General Services Administration (GSA), and the Small Business Administration (SBA).

The Bill Clinton appointee opined that the medication acted "contrary" to the continuing solution that Congress created to extremity the shutdown.

"Defendants indispensable bash what the continuing solution says," the justice wrote successful her 27-page order, declaring that the agencies whitethorn not "take immoderate further steps to instrumentality oregon transportation retired a RIF" done Jan. 30, 2026 — the day to which the continuing solution stretches — careless of erstwhile the RIF announcement was archetypal issued. In summation to reinstating the terminated employees to their anterior occupation statuses, these workers indispensable beryllium fixed "full backmost pay."

The national authorities unopen down connected Oct. 1, and, arsenic it had been doing successful erstwhile months, the Trump medication moved to laic disconnected national workers.

The American Federation of Government Employees and different labour unions sued, appealing to the U.S. Northern District of California tribunal for an exigency bid "because immoderate agencies person continued to determination guardant with layoffs … and immoderate agencies person not reinstated employees to their pre-shutdown jobs."

Workers were upset: overseas work workers claimed they weren't fixed capable announcement of their terminations, and SBA employees fired during the shutdown received letters connected Nov. 17 that their RIF notices were "formally rescinded" — lone for those rescission letters to beryllium rescinded the precise adjacent time without explanation.

The unions argued that the medication exceeded its authority, ran afoul of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) — the statute that governs national bureau behaviour — and violated the Constitution's Appropriations Clause.

The shutdown ended connected Nov. 12 erstwhile Congress passed a continuing resolution, fundamentally a impermanent hole to money the authorities until a much imperishable solution tin beryllium found. As Illston recounts, "[m]any national employees whose jobs were connected the chopping artifact took solace: the measure contained a proviso that paused further national bureau layoffs done January 30, 2026, and ordered that those national bureau employees who had been laid disconnected during the shutdown beryllium reinstated."

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The national agencies person maintained that they person done thing wrong. They accidental that due to the fact that they submitted RIF notices earlier the Oct. 1 shutdown, the continuing solution does not apply, adjacent if the terminations were carried retired during the grounds 43-day shutdown.

But Illston rejected this argument, uncovering that they displayed a "narrow reading" of the continuing solution and its circumstantial verbiage: "any simplification successful unit proposed, noticed, initiated, executed, implemented, oregon different taken by an Executive Agency betwixt October 1, 2025, and the day of enactment, shall person nary unit oregon effect."

The justice besides recovered that the national workers established that they person been — oregon would beryllium — harmed beyond simply losing their jobs.

"[T]he Court finds that what is astatine involvement is much than the imaginable oregon impermanent nonaccomplishment of income of 1 idiosyncratic employee. In particular, the nonaccomplishment of wellness security sum poses a hazard that cannot beryllium retroactively repaired done backpay," she wrote, pointing to a fired worker who present has nary wellness security for her and her son.

"Other affected employees picture being successful attraction for cancer, having chronic aesculapian conditions, and foregoing attraction for themselves and their babies owed to deficiency of security coverage," the justice continued. "The declarations besides picture employees' challenges successful a hard occupation marketplace oregon re-starting careers aft decades successful authorities service," she said, pointing to circumstantial fired employees' stories that "demonstrate the harms RIF'd workers face."

In summation to being barred from "taking immoderate enactment to implement, transportation out, oregon effectuate" RIFs done Jan. 30, 2026, the Trump medication indispensable rescind the notices "implemented oregon executed" during the shutdown and "give idiosyncratic announcement of this injunction" to applicable employees.

Illston has delayed the injunction from taking effect until Dec. 23 to springiness the medication clip to see appealing her ruling to a higher court. She acceptable a presumption league for Jan. 23, 2026.