Judge extends ban on Trump firing federal workers during government shutdown
A traffic light shows red in front of the US Capitol, in Washington DC , October 14, 2025.
Celal Gunes/ | Anadolu | Getty Images
A federal judge on Tuesday extended a temporary order blocking the Trump administration’s plans to fire thousands of federal employees during the government shutdown.
The order, called a preliminary injunction, prohibits the administration from issuing reduction-in-force, or RIF, notices until the government reopens, Judge Susan Illston said during a hearing in U.S. District Court in San Francisco.
Illston had previously imposed a short-term firing freeze, known as a temporary restraining order, on Oct. 15.
The Trump administration, in court filings in the lawsuit before Illston, said it had issued around 4,000 RIFs on Oct. 10.
White House Budget Director Russell Vought, an author of the right-wing government policy guidebook known as Project 2025, said the following week that the total RIF number would likely “end up being north of 10,000.”
President Donald Trump has said that the shutdown, which is now the second-longest ever, has given his administration an “opportunity” to slash what he has described as “Democrat Agencies.”
This is breaking news. Please refresh for updates.
<
