Latest news with #SusanIllston
USA Today
15-07-2025
- Health
- USA Today
Federal health agency finalizes mass layoffs after Supreme Court lifts pause
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is moving forward with mass layoffs after the Supreme Court lifted a pause on the Trump administration's sweeping efforts to cut the workforce at federal agencies. The administration began a wave of terminations at HHS on April 1, part of a plan to cut 10,000 jobs at the department and many more across the federal government. U.S. District Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco halted the layoffs, ruling on May 22 that approximately 20 affected agencies, including HHS, wouldn't be able to function as Congress intended. The Supreme Court, in a July 8 ruling, allowed the job cuts to proceed. An HHS spokesperson said July 15 that employees originally targeted for layoffs have now been terminated, with some exceptions. Combined with earlier job cuts and people who accepted early retirement offers, the total Health and Human Services workforce is expected to drop from 82,000 to 62,000 people. President Donald Trump has been pushing big cuts at federal agencies through the Department of Government Efficiency. The HHS cuts affect a vast array of programs, including the HIV prevention division in the Centers for Disease Control and tobacco prevention efforts at the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration. Word of the cuts prompted concern from leading health experts when they were announced in April. 'The randomness of today's actions is reckless and will harm Americans rather than make them healthy,' Dr. Colleen Kelley, chair of the HIV Medicine Association, said at the time. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in March when the department announced plans for big cuts that the move would reduce "bureaucratic sprawl" and realign his agency "with its core mission and our new priorities." Contributing: Maureen Groppe, Sarah D. Wire, Josh Meyer, Bart Jansen, Ken Alltucker, Cybele Mayes-Osterman, Eduardo Cuevas, Sudiksha Kochi, Adrianna Rodriguez, Terry Collins
Japan Times
09-07-2025
- Business
- Japan Times
Supreme Court clears the way for Trump to pursue mass federal layoffs
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday cleared the way for Donald Trump's administration to pursue mass government job cuts and the sweeping downsizing of numerous agencies, a decision that could lead to tens of thousands of layoffs while dramatically reshaping the federal bureaucracy. Tuesday's ruling stemmed from an executive order Trump issued in February ordering agencies to prepare for mass layoffs. At Trump's direction, the administration has come up with plans to reduce staff at the U.S. Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Health and Human Services, State, Treasury, Veterans Affairs and more than a dozen other agencies. In a brief unsigned order, the court said the Trump administration was "likely to succeed" in its argument that his directives were legally within his power. The decision is the latest win for Trump's broader efforts to consolidate power in the executive branch. The Supreme Court has sided with Trump in several cases on an emergency basis since he returned to office in January, including clearing the way for implementation of some of his hard-line immigration policies. The Supreme Court's decision on Tuesday lifted San Francisco-based U.S. District Judge Susan Illston's order in May that temporarily blocked large-scale federal layoffs while the case proceeded. Illston had ruled that Trump exceeded his authority in ordering the government downsizing without consulting Congress, which created and funded the agencies in question. "As history demonstrates, the president may broadly restructure federal agencies only when authorized by Congress," Illston wrote. While Tuesday's decision cleared one major legal obstacle for the White House, the court noted that it was not assessing the legality of any specific layoff plans at federal agencies. Those layoff proposals, some of which were submitted earlier this year, could still face legal challenges on a variety of grounds, including union opposition, statutory restrictions and civil service protections. The White House said in a statement that the decision is a "definitive victory for the president and his administration" that reinforced Trump's authority to implement "efficiency across the federal government." However, two White House sources familiar with the matter, who asked to remain unidentified, said the ruling did not permit agencies to execute layoffs immediately. One of the sources said additional delays or legal hurdles "could alter the scope and timing of the cuts." A group of unions, nonprofits and local governments that sued to block the administration's mass layoffs said the ruling "dealt a serious blow to our democracy and puts services that the American people rely on in grave jeopardy" and vowed to continue fighting as the case proceeds. The plaintiffs had warned in court filings that Trump's plans, if allowed to proceed, would result in hundreds of thousands of layoffs. A Reuters/Ipsos poll in April found that Americans narrowly favored Trump's campaign to downsize the federal government, with about 56% saying they supported the effort and 40% opposed. Their views broke down along party lines, with 89% of Republicans but just 26% of Democrats supportive. Some agencies whose downsizing plans had been put on hold said they would resume advancing those efforts. "We will continue to move forward with our historic reorganization plan," the State Department, which has proposed laying off nearly 2,000 employees, said on X. Upon taking office in January, Trump launched a massive campaign to cut the 2.3-million strong federal civilian workforce, led by billionaire Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency. Musk and his mostly young lieutenants immediately moved into key government agencies, fired workers, gained access to government computer systems and virtually shuttered two agencies — the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Trump and Musk said the bloated federal bureaucracy needed to be downsized. Federal workers' unions and most Democrats say the cuts so far, and the plans for further mass layoffs, have been carried out haphazardly, leading to chaos inside many agencies and threatening important public services such as the processing of Social Security claims. By late April, about 100 days into the effort, the government overhaul had resulted in the firing, resignations and early retirements of 260,000 civil servants, according to a Reuters tally. Liberal Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was the sole member of the nine-person court to publicly dissent from Tuesday's decision, criticizing the "court's demonstrated enthusiasm for greenlighting this president's legally dubious actions in an emergency posture." Tuesday's decision extended Trump's winning record at the Supreme Court since taking office. The court has let Trump's administration resume deporting migrants to countries other than their own without offering them a chance to show the harms they could face and end temporary legal status previously granted on humanitarian grounds to hundreds of thousands of migrants. In addition, it has allowed Trump to implement his ban on transgender people in the U.S. military, blocked a judge's order that the administration rehire thousands of fired employees and curbed the power of federal judges to impose nationwide rulings impeding presidential policies. Most of these decisions have been issued as emergency orders, known colloquially as the shadow docket, that respond to applications for immediate action from the court.
CNA
09-07-2025
- Business
- CNA
Supreme Court clears way for Trump to pursue mass federal layoffs
WASHINGTON: The United States Supreme Court on Tuesday (Jul 9) cleared the way for Donald Trump's administration to pursue mass government job cuts and the sweeping downsizing of numerous agencies, a decision that could lead to tens of thousands of layoffs while dramatically reshaping the federal bureaucracy. Tuesday's ruling stemmed from an executive order Trump issued in February ordering agencies to prepare for mass layoffs. At Trump's direction, the administration has come up with plans to reduce staff at the US Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Health and Human Services, State, Treasury, Veterans Affairs and more than a dozen other agencies. In a brief unsigned order, the court said the Trump administration was "likely to succeed" in its argument that his directives were legally within his power. The decision is the latest win for Trump's broader efforts to consolidate power in the executive branch. The Supreme Court has sided with Trump in several cases on an emergency basis since he returned to office in January, including clearing the way for implementation of some of his hardline immigration policies. The Supreme Court's decision on Tuesday lifted San Francisco-based US District Judge Susan Illston's order in May that temporarily blocked large-scale federal layoffs while the case proceeded. Illston had ruled that Trump exceeded his authority in ordering the government downsizing without consulting Congress, which created and funded the agencies in question. "As history demonstrates, the president may broadly restructure federal agencies only when authorised by Congress," Illston wrote. While Tuesday's decision cleared one major legal obstacle for the White House, the court noted that it was not assessing the legality of any specific layoff plans at federal agencies. Those layoff proposals, some of which were submitted earlier this year, could still face legal challenges on a variety of grounds, including union opposition, statutory restrictions and civil service protections. The White House said in a statement that the decision is a "definitive victory for the president and his administration" that reinforced Trump's authority to implement "efficiency across the federal government". However, two White House sources familiar with the matter, who asked to remain unidentified, said the ruling did not permit agencies to execute layoffs immediately. One of the sources said additional delays or legal hurdles "could alter the scope and timing of the cuts". A group of unions, nonprofits and local governments that sued to block the administration's mass layoffs said the ruling "dealt a serious blow to our democracy and puts services that the American people rely on in grave jeopardy" and vowed to continue fighting as the case proceeds. The plaintiffs had warned in court filings that Trump's plans, if allowed to proceed, would result in hundreds of thousands of layoffs. A Reuters/Ipsos poll in April found that Americans narrowly favored Trump's campaign to downsize the federal government, with about 56 per cent saying they supported the effort and 40 per cent opposed. Their views broke down along party lines, with 89 per cent of Republicans but just 26 per cent of Democrats supportive. Some agencies whose downsizing plans had been put on hold said they would resume advancing those efforts. "We will continue to move forward with our historic reorganization plan," the State Department, which has proposed laying off nearly 2,000 employees, said on X. DOGE CUTS Upon taking office in January, Trump launched a massive campaign to cut the 2.3-million strong federal civilian workforce, led by billionaire Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency. Musk and his mostly young lieutenants immediately moved into key government agencies, fired workers, gained access to government computer systems and virtually shuttered two agencies – the US Agency for International Development and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Trump and Musk said the bloated federal bureaucracy needed to be downsized. Federal workers' unions and most Democrats say the cuts so far, and the plans for further mass layoffs, have been carried out haphazardly, leading to chaos inside many agencies and threatening important public services such as the processing of Social Security claims. By late April, about 100 days into the effort, the government overhaul had resulted in the firing, resignations and early retirements of 260,000 civil servants, according to a Reuters tally. Liberal Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was the sole member of the nine-person court to publicly dissent from Tuesday's decision, criticising the "court's demonstrated enthusiasm for greenlighting this president's legally dubious actions in an emergency posture". Tuesday's decision extended Trump's winning record at the Supreme Court since taking office. The court has let Trump's administration resume deporting migrants to countries other than their own without offering them a chance to show the harms they could face and end temporary legal status previously granted on humanitarian grounds to hundreds of thousands of migrants. In addition, it has allowed Trump to implement his ban on transgender people in the US military, blocked a judge's order that the administration rehire thousands of fired employees and curbed the power of federal judges to impose nationwide rulings impeding presidential policies.
Al Arabiya
09-07-2025
- Business
- Al Arabiya
Supreme Court clears way for Trump to pursue widespread federal layoffs
The US Supreme Court on Tuesday cleared the way for Donald Trump's administration to pursue mass government job cuts and the sweeping downsizing of numerous agencies, a decision that could lead to tens of thousands of layoffs while dramatically reshaping the federal bureaucracy. Tuesday's ruling stemmed from an executive order Trump issued in February ordering agencies to prepare for mass layoffs. At Trump's direction, the administration has come up with plans to reduce staff at the US Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Health and Human Services, State, Treasury, Veterans Affairs and more than a dozen other agencies. In a brief unsigned order, the court said the Trump administration was 'likely to succeed' in its argument that his directives were legally within his power. The decision is the latest win for Trump's broader efforts to consolidate power in the executive branch. The Supreme Court has sided with Trump in several cases on an emergency basis since he returned to office in January, including clearing the way for implementation of some of his hardline immigration policies. The Supreme Court's decision on Tuesday lifted San Francisco-based US District Judge Susan Illston's order in May that temporarily blocked large-scale federal layoffs while the case proceeded. Illston had ruled that Trump exceeded his authority in ordering the government downsizing without consulting Congress, which created and funded the agencies in question. While Tuesday's decision cleared one major legal obstacle for the White House, the court noted that it was not assessing the legality of any specific layoff plans at federal agencies. Those layoff proposals, some of which were submitted earlier this year, could still face legal challenges on a variety of grounds, including union opposition, statutory restrictions and civil service protections. White House spokesperson Harrison Fields welcomed the court's action, calling it a 'definitive victory for the president and his administration' that reinforced Trump's authority to implement 'efficiency across the federal government.' However, two White House sources familiar with the matter, who asked to remain unidentified, said the ruling did not permit agencies to execute layoffs immediately. One of the sources said additional delays or legal hurdles 'could alter the scope and timing of the cuts.' A group of unions, nonprofits and local governments that sued to block the administration's mass layoffs said the ruling 'dealt a serious blow to our democracy and puts services that the American people rely on in grave jeopardy' and vowed to continue fighting as the case proceeds. The plaintiffs had warned in court filings that Trump's plans, if allowed to proceed, would result in hundreds of thousands of layoffs. A Reuters/Ipsos poll in April found that Americans narrowly favored Trump's campaign to downsize the federal government, with about 56 percent saying they supported the effort and 40 percent opposed. Their views broke down along party lines, with 89 percent of Republicans but just 26 percent of Democrats supportive. Some agencies whose downsizing plans had been put on hold said they would resume advancing those efforts. 'We will continue to move forward with our historic reorganization plan,' the State Department, which has proposed laying off nearly 2,000 employees, said on X. Upon taking office in January, Trump launched a massive campaign to cut the 2.3-million strong federal civilian workforce, led by billionaire Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency. Musk and his mostly young lieutenants immediately moved into key government agencies, fired workers, gained access to government computer systems and virtually shuttered two agencies – the US Agency for International Development and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Trump and Musk said the bloated federal bureaucracy needed to be downsized. Federal workers' unions and most Democrats say the cuts so far, and the plans for further mass layoffs, have been carried out haphazardly, leading to chaos inside many agencies and threatening important public services such as the processing of Social Security claims. By late April, about 100 days into the effort, the government overhaul had resulted in the firing, resignations and early retirements of 260,000 civil servants, according to a Reuters tally. Liberal Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was the sole member of the nine-person court to publicly dissent from Tuesday's decision, criticizing the 'court's demonstrated enthusiasm for greenlighting this president's legally dubious actions in an emergency posture.' Tuesday's decision extended Trump's winning record at the Supreme Court since taking office. The court has let Trump's administration resume deporting migrants to countries other than their own without offering them a chance to show the harms they could face and end temporary legal status previously granted on humanitarian grounds to hundreds of thousands of migrants. In addition, it has allowed Trump to implement his ban on transgender people in the US military, blocked a judge's order that the administration rehire thousands of fired employees and curbed the power of federal judges to impose nationwide rulings impeding presidential policies. Most of these decisions have been issued as emergency orders, known colloquially as the shadow docket, that respond to applications for immediate action from the court.
Forbes
09-07-2025
- Politics
- Forbes
Supreme Court Clears The Way For Mass Federal Layoffs. What It Means For Workers Now
Protesting federal layoffs Today the U.S. Supreme Court issued an unsigned order that allows the Trump administration to resume large-scale layoffs of federal workers. This action lifts a lower court injunction that had temporarily blocked the administration's plan. While the Court did not rule on the legality of the layoffs, the decision allows the administration to move forward while litigation continues. The executive order, issued in February 2025, directs federal agencies to prepare for 'large-scale reductions in force,' or RIFs. It is part of a broader effort to eliminate what the administration describes as wasteful and unnecessary federal programs. A companion memo outlined a 4-to-1 attrition policy, allowing only one hire for every four employee departures. Tens of thousands of federal workers have already lost their jobs or taken deferred resignation packages. Although the White House has not confirmed a specific figure, estimates from watchdog organizations suggest that more than 75,000 federal employees have been affected. Agencies impacted include the Departments of Agriculture, Veterans Affairs, Energy, and the Environmental Protection Agency. In May, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston blocked the administration from continuing the layoffs without congressional approval. She cited significant risks to critical government services, including food safety and healthcare for veterans. A panel from the Ninth Circuit affirmed that injunction, describing the administration's approach as sweeping and legally questionable. The Supreme Court's latest decision lifts that block, at least temporarily. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented from the majority. She argued that the Court was acting too early in the legal process and warned of lasting consequences. 'This executive action promises mass employee terminations, widespread cancellation of federal programs and services, and the dismantling of much of the Federal Government as Congress has created it,' Jackson wrote. Justice Sonia Sotomayor concurred with the majority but noted that the lower courts are still responsible for determining whether the layoffs comply with the law. 'The plans themselves are not before this Court,' she wrote. 'We thus have no occasion to consider whether they can and will be carried out consistent with the constraints of law.' The decision has introduced uncertainty into the lives of federal workers. Tom Spiggle, founder of The Spiggle Law Firm and author of Fired? Afraid You Might Be?, said the ruling could have significant consequences for individual careers and livelihoods. 'This isn't just about policy debates in Washington,' Spiggle said. 'It's about people losing access to steady work, benefits, and a career they've built. Many federal employees are asking whether they have any rights in this process.' Spiggle emphasized that not all layoffs are legally permissible, even during a broad reorganization. 'If someone was targeted for dismissal because of a protected characteristic such as age, disability, or past whistleblowing activity, then that may be illegal,' he said. He advised affected workers to document events carefully and consider speaking with an employment attorney if they suspect unfair treatment. 'In some cases, reductions in force can be used to disguise unlawful discrimination,' Spiggle explained. The administration argues that the president does not need additional authorization from Congress to conduct agency-wide layoffs. Attorney General Pam Bondi praised the Supreme Court's order, saying it 'stopped lawless lower courts from restricting President Trump's authority over federal personnel.' Critics, including labor unions and several local governments, argue the opposite. In a joint statement, a coalition of plaintiffs said, 'This decision has dealt a serious blow to our democracy and puts services that the American people rely on in grave jeopardy.' The administration's actions now return to Judge Illston's courtroom, where constitutional and statutory questions about executive authority will continue to be litigated. Spiggle said employees should act quickly if they believe they have been targeted unfairly. 'You only have a limited window to file claims with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Sometimes you have as short as 180 days from the date of the adverse action,' he noted. Tom Spiggle noted that resources are available to help workers estimate the value of potential employment claims. 'Even if you aren't ready to file a case, understanding what your claim might be worth can help you make smart decisions,' he said. For now, federal employees across the country are left waiting, unsure of when or if the next round of cuts will come.
