Overview

• The emergency stay overturns U.S. District Judge Susan Illston’s May injunction that had paused President Trump’s February executive order on “reductions in force.”
• In its brief order, the Court said it was not ruling on the legality of any specific agency reorganization plans, with Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson issuing the lone dissent.
• Planned cuts affect over a dozen departments, including Agriculture, Commerce, Health and Human Services, State, Treasury and Veterans Affairs.
• A coalition of labor unions, non-profits and local governments warns the mass layoffs risk crippling essential services and has pledged to continue legal challenges.
• Litigation will proceed in the Ninth Circuit and could return to the Supreme Court for a final decision on the scope of presidential authority over federal staffing.