Overview
- U.S. District Judge Susan Illston issued a preliminary injunction requiring agencies to reinstate roughly 675 employees fired during or immediately after the shutdown, with back pay.
- The order pauses additional reduction-in-force actions at the State and Education departments and reverses shutdown-era layoffs at State, Education, the Small Business Administration, and the General Services Administration.
- Illston found the continuing resolution’s language—prohibiting agencies from initiating, carrying out, implementing, or noticing RIFs—limits agency authority during the funding period.
- The Justice Department’s argument that pre-shutdown RIFs could still be executed was rejected, with the court citing the disruptive and “chaotic” impacts on workers, including interruptions to health coverage.
- The judge indicated she may temporarily stay the injunction to allow the government to appeal, which could delay immediate implementation, as unions welcomed the decision.