San Francisco, 16 October (H.S.): A federal judge on Wednesday issued a temporary restraining order to block the Trump administration from laying off thousands of federal workers as a government shutdown extends into its third week. The ruling by District Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco came in response to a lawsuit filed by labor unions, which argued the proposed layoffs are illegal.

The court’s intervention occurred shortly after the White House declared its intent to proceed with significant workforce reductions. Russ Vought, the chief of the White House Office of Management and Budget, stated that the administration was preparing to lay off north of 10,000 employees.

We want to be very aggressive where we can be in shuttering the bureaucracy, Vought said.During the court hearing, Judge Illston voiced serious concerns about the administration’s conduct during the funding lapse.

The evidence suggests that the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Personnel Management have taken advantage of the lapse in government spending… to assume all bets are off, the laws don’t apply to them anymore, she stated.The government shutdown is the result of a deadlocked Congress over a spending resolution.

President Donald Trump has threatened mass layoffs, particularly targeting workers he deems aligned with the opposition, if Democrats continue to block a House-passed funding bill.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar