Overview

• The Supreme Court in an unsigned 8-1 order lifted Judge Susan Illston’s May injunction that had blocked “reductions in force” across more than 20 federal agencies
• Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was the sole dissenter, warning the decision could lead to mass terminations and dismantling of congressionally created programs
• The ruling expressly declined to rule on the legality of any individual agency reduction plans, leaving those disputes to proceed in lower courts
• President Trump’s February executive order directed the Department of Government Efficiency to prepare large-scale workforce cuts as part of a broader federal overhaul
• Labor unions, non-profit groups and local governments had sued to halt the cuts on grounds that the administration lacked authority to bypass Congress