Trump wins broad authority to lay off federal workers without Congress
Supreme Court allows Trump to make large-scale staff cuts
The Supreme Court lifted a federal judge’s pause on mass staffing cuts by the Trump administration.
President Donald Trump has the authority to lay off federal workers and reorganize the federal government in a way that critics say no president has been able to do in more than 100 years.
The power, which the Supreme Court granted temporarily, stems from a case in which the Trump administration says it needs broad authority to manage the executive branch effectively, but federal labor unions say flies in the face of established law and decades of tradition.
A final decision in favor of the president, which the court said is likely, will continue a trend in which the executive branch increases its power in relation to the legislative and judicial branches − making Trump and future presidents more powerful than they’ve been in generations.
For now, the Trump administration can continue with the plan it launched in February to institute large-scale layoffs across the federal government, putting aside a temporary reprieve that tens of thousands of federal workers have enjoyed for two months.
The American Federation of Government Employees, a labor union that partnered with outside groups and local governments to sue the Trump administration, said in a statement that it is considering next steps as the case makes its way through court.
A senior White House official told USA said that while critics are welcome to disagree with what the administration is doing, the call for layoffs is lawful, and the administration intends to act immediately to reduce the size of government.
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Trump began the mass layoffs, called a reduction in force, when he signed an executive order Feb. 11 flanked by then-aide Elon Musk. The order called on agencies to begin a monthslong process to reduce the ranks of government “to the extent applicable by law.”
AFGE, the largest federal labor union, joined with other unions, nonprofit organizations and local governments on April 28 to sue the Trump administration, saying that it needed Congress’ approval to conduct mass layoffs.
A federal judge in California sided with the union in May and blocked the layoff plan from taking effect at more than two dozen federal agencies while the case went through the court process. The Trump administration told the Supreme Court this was an overreach, and the high court agreed in a July 9 decision.
This gave a greenlight to layoffs until the high court decides to take up the underlying case. While the justices didn’t issue a decision on the underlying case, they said the Trump administration was “likely to succeed,” and that the executive order was “lawful.”
The senior White House official said agencies are now awaiting guidance on the next step in the layoff process, but the administration will be acting immediately. The official said some agencies had layoff plans before U.S. District Judge Susan Illston, in San Francisco, took action, and now those plans are unpaused.
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The agencies that are now free from Judge Illston’s block include Agriculture, Commerce, Energy, Health and Human Services, Justice, Labor, Treasury, State, Veterans Affairs, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Social Security Administration.
The senior White House official said they expect to be sued over individual agency layoff plans, which the Supreme Court decision did not address, but also expect to win any lawsuits that come their way because the administration is following the law.
If agencies proceed with previously announced layoff plans, thousands of federal workers across the country could soon lose their jobs. For example, the Department of Health and Human Services announced April 1 it would begin the process of laying off 10,000 employees on April 1.
As part of the process, agencies offered employees buyouts and early retirement incentives to leave their jobs voluntarily. The Department of Veterans Affairs, the largest civilian agency in the federal government, saw 17,000 employees resign since January and expects another 12,000 to leave by the end of September, according to Secretary Doug Collins.
As a result, Collins said the agency would not need to conduct widespread layoffs. A previously leaked memo said Veterans Affairs would lay off 76,000 people.
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Peter Shane, an adjunct professor at New York University School of Law, told USA TODAY that over the years Congress has given the president authority to move parts of agencies around, but retained veto authority over the changes following the 1930s New Deal.
The Supreme Court ruled that veto authority unconstitutional in the 1980s. In response, Congress took back its reoganization authority.
Shane called Trump’s February Executive Order a “work around.”
“By forcing draconian cuts on agencies, you can accomplish exactly what your organizational plans were intended to accomplish, but without giving Congress any say,” Shane said. “And that’s why what the court is doing, or failing to do, has such dramatic implications for the balance of power.”
Hans von Spakovsky, a senior legal fellow for the conservative Heritage Foundation, said the union’s case was “astonishing” because presidential administrations have long implemented reductions in force, including when he worked for the government decades ago.
“It’s not as if this is something new or unprecedented − and the idea that this is going to cause some kind of huge problem with the federal government being able to carry out its duties is also frankly ridiculous,” von Spakovsky said.
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