Judge temporarily blocks Trump admin from firing workers during shutdown

A US federal judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked President Donald Trump's administration from firing workers during the government shutdown, saying the cuts appeared to be politically motivated and were being carried out without much thought.

US District Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco repeatedly pressed the assistant US attorney to explain the administration's rationale for the more than 4,100 layoff notices that started going out on Friday even though furloughed workers cannot access their work emails and there are no human resources specialists to assist with next steps.

"It is very much ready, fire, aim on most of these programmes, and it has a human cost," she said. "It is a human cost that cannot be tolerated."  She granted a temporary restraining order blocking the job cuts, saying she believed the evidence would ultimately show the cuts were illegal and in excess of authority.

Asked for comment, the White House referred The Associated Press to the Office of Management and Budget. The budget office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The American Federation of Government Employees and other federal labour unions had asked Illston to block the administration from issuing new layoff notices and implementing those that were already sent out. The unions said the firings were an abuse of power designed to punish workers and pressure Congress.

"The president seems to think his government shutdown is distracting people from the harmful and lawlessness actions of his administration, but the American people are holding him accountable, including in the courts," said Skye Perryman, president and CEO of legal organisation Democracy Forward. "Our civil servants do the work of the people, and playing games with their livelihoods is cruel and unlawful and a threat to everyone in our nation."  Illston's order came as the shutdown, which started on October 1, entered its third week.

Democratic lawmakers are demanding that any deal to reopen the federal government address their healthcare demands. Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson predicted the shutdown may become the longest in history, saying he "will not negotiate" with Democrats until they hit pause on those demands and reopen.

Democrats have demanded that healthcare subsidies, first put in place in 2021 and extended a year later, be extended again. They also want any government funding bill to reverse the Medicaid cuts in Trump's big tax breaks and spending cuts bill passed this summer.

The Trump administration has been paying the military and pursuing its crackdown on immigration while slashing jobs in health and education, including in special education and after-school programmes. Trump said programmes favoured by Democrats are being targeted and "they are never going to come back, in many cases".

In a court filing, the administration said it planned to fire more than 4,100 employees across eight agencies.

In a related case, Illston had blocked the administration from carrying out much of its plans to reduce the size of the federal workforce. But the Supreme Court said the administration could continue firing workers while the lawsuit is pending.

The unions say the layoff notices are an illegal attempt at political pressure and retribution and are based on the false premise that a temporary funding lapse eliminates Congress' authorisation of agency programmes.

Assistant US Attorney Elizabeth Hedges said in court on Wednesday that the district court lacks jurisdiction to hear employment decisions made by federal agencies. Under prodding by the judge, Hedges said she was not prepared to discuss the merits of the case, only reasons why a temporary restraining order should not be issued.

Illston was nominated to the bench by former President Bill Clinton, a Democrat.