Supreme Court 6-3 Stay Authorizes Mass Federal Workforce Reductions at 22 Agencies

The Supreme Court issued a 6-3 stay allowing the Trump administration to proceed with mass federal workforce reductions at 22 agencies, overturning a preliminary injunction issued by Judge Susan Illston. The decision enabled immediate implementation of layoffs that had been blocked as likely violations of civil service protections.

The stay allowed reductions in force (RIFs) to proceed while appeals continued, effectively making the cuts permanent even if courts later found them unlawful—fired employees would not be automatically reinstated. The American Federation of Government Employees represented over 100,000 affected workers.

The three liberal justices dissented, arguing the court was short-circuiting normal judicial processes to allow potentially illegal terminations. They noted the administration had not demonstrated the irreparable harm typically required for emergency relief.

The decision exemplified the court’s asymmetric approach to emergency relief: consistently granting stays that benefit the Trump administration while rarely extending similar treatment to other parties. The ruling enabled the largest reduction in federal workforce since the Reagan era, fundamentally reshaping government capacity.