Pause on Federal Shutdown Layoffs Expanded by California Judge

An existing court restraining order preventing the Trump administration from engaging in mass layoffs during the shutdown was expanded by a California judge to include members from three additional federal worker unions.

San Francisco federal Judge Susan Illston at an emergency hearing Friday said she saw no reason her existing pause on firings didn’t extend to the additional unions.

The additional unions include the National Federation of Federal Employees, the Service Employees International Union, and the National Association of Government Employees.

The judge also clarified the scope of her temporary restraining order after the Department of Treasury and Health and Human Services said in court filings earlier that day they could proceed with mass layoffs, formally known as reductions in force, of employees who aren’t part of a union’s collective bargaining agreement.

“My recommendation to defense counsel is to tell the defendants they should err on the side of caution,” Illston said. “I don’t think any RIFs should be happening.”

The judge said she would sign a written order clarifying that the restraining order applies to all plaintiff union members, regardless of whether the government canceled collective bargaining agreements covering those members.

Illston, a Clinton appointee who sits on the US District Court for the Northern District of California, issued the restraining order Wednesday prohibiting federal agencies from engaging in additional reductions in force, finding the actions are likely “illegal and excess of authority.” She also demanded the government to produce a list of employees fired during the shutdown and any future layoffs.

The Department of Interior was preparing mass layoffs beginning Monday, the American Federation of Government Employees, which sued to stop the layoffs, told the court Friday.

“That’s supposed to be enjoined and stayed,” Illston said during the hearing. “As an order of the court, don’t do it.”

White House Budget Director Russell Vought said this week he expects layoffs to exceed more than 10,000. The Trump administration fired more than 4,100 workers at nearly half a dozen agencies last Friday, which didn’t include the Department of the Interior.

The case is AFGE v. OMB, N.D. Cal., No. 3:25-cv-08302, 10/17/25.