The Trump administration says it’s moving forward with hundreds of planned federal worker layoffs, but will hold off on some in response to a recently-expanded court order.
The Department of Health and Human Services said 362 of the 954 employees given termination notices were covered by a California judge’s order to stop shutdown-related reductions in force, according to court filings Monday.
The departments of Interior and Commerce likewise said they paused terminations for employees represented by five union plaintiffs that were included in Judge Susan Illston’s Oct. 15 order, which she later expanded after unions complained the government was moving forward with layoffs despite the court’s pause.
“My recommendation to defense counsel is to tell the defendants they should err on the side of caution,” Illston said during an Oct. 17 hearing. “I don’t think any RIFs should be happening.”
Illston, a Clinton appointee who sits on the US District Court for the Northern District of California, ordered the government to cease shutdown-related layoffs for workers represented by the American Federation of Government Employees, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the Service Employees International Union, the National Association of Government Employees, and the National Federation of Federal Employees.
Commerce said in Monday filings that workers protected by the TRO include those at the US Census Bureau and Minority Business Development Agency, but didn’t specify how many workers who aren’t covered by the court order had received termination notices.
Interior said that out of the 14,212 workers who were considered for layoffs, 4,833 are covered by the five unions. It also said it only intended to cut 2,050 positions but didn’t say how many of those were represented by the plaintiff unions.
The Trump administration fired more than 4,100 workers at nearly half a dozen agencies earlier this month, but White House Budget Director Russell Vought said last week he expects layoffs related to the ongoing government shutdown to exceed more than 10,000.
The case is AFGE v OMB, N.D. Cal., No. 3:25-cv-08302, 10/20/25.
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