State Department’s Layoffs Violate Shutdown Deal, Unions Say

The State Department’s plan to start broad employee layoffs at the end of the week violates the November legislative deal to restart the government which prohibits mass firings through January, a group of federal unions argued.

The American Federation of Government Employees in filings Wednesday said it wants the US District Court for the Northern District of California to immediately halt the planned layoffs, set by the Trump administration for Dec. 5.

That resolution prohibits federal agencies from issuing any new reduction in force plans through Jan. 30, 2026, and rescinds the RIFs issued during the record six-week government shutdown. ...