California Judge Likely to Extend Freeze on Trump’s Mass Layoffs

A federal district court judge in California said she will likely extend a freeze on President Donald Trump’s plan to lay off thousands of federal workers, dealing another blow to his unprecedented overhaul of the federal workforce.

Judge Susan Illston of the US District Court for the Northern District of California at a Thursday hearing said she is inclined to grant a preliminary injunction halting the layoffs while the case proceeds, temporarily protecting the jobs of thousands of federal workers.

“Elections have consequences, presidents can set priorities,” she said at a hearing in her San Francisco courtroom. But “the president may not initiate a large scale executive branch reorganizations without partnering with Congress.”

To hold otherwise would go against the actions of nine past presidents, she said. “I do not have that level of self confidence.”

The case represents the most expansive legal dispute yet of Trump’s effort to slash the federal workforce as part of his pledge to root out what he claims is waste, fraud, and abuse. The threats of layoffs and budget cuts have already driven thousands of workers out at the Internal Revenue Service, Health and Human Services Department, and other agencies through firings and attrition.

Illston had already temporarily barred the administration on May 9 from firing government employees, but that order is set to expire on Friday.

The case is AFGE v. Trump, N.D. Cal., No. 3:25-cv-03698, 5/22/25.