Order Comes Amid Lawsuit Brought by Unions to Protect Workers from Unlawful Termination

San Francisco, CA. - A federal judge has indicated she will order the Trump-Vance administration to nullify the terminations of federal employees at four federal agencies, which were implemented in clear violation of the bipartisan law that ended the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. In a hearing today, Judge Susan Illston of the U.S. District Court for Northern California agreed with the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the American Foreign Service Association (AFSA), and the National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE) that Section 120 of the continuing resolution passed by Congress and signed into law by President Trump on November 12, 2025, prohibits federal agencies from initiating, implementing, or carrying out any reduction-in-force (RIF) for the duration of the law, which currently runs through January 30, 2026.

Judge Illston’s order from the bench, which is expected in writing later today, will force the Trump-Vance administration to rescind RIFs issued to civil servants at the Small Business Administration, General Services Administration, and U.S. State Department who received RIF notices that were implemented or carried out  during and after the government shutdown. The order also forces the administration to halt planned RIFs at the U.S. Departments of Education and State. AFGE and AFSA previously secured a temporary restraining order to block 250 terminations at the Department of State that were set to take effect on December 5.

The order is an important milestone in an ongoing lawsuit brought by a coalition of unions challenging the administration’s unlawful mass firings of federal employees during or because of the government shutdown. Those firings are being similarly blocked by a preliminary injunction. AFGE, AFSA, and NFFE are represented in this action by Democracy Forward, Altshuler Berzon LLP, and Democracy Defenders Fund.

“This ruling is a victory for the federal workers unlawfully targeted by the Trump administration and for our constitutional system of checks and balances,” said Amb. Norm Eisen (ret.), executive chair of Democracy Defenders Fund. “Congress ended the shutdown and enacted clear legal protections for these public servants. The president himself signed them into law. As today's decision demonstrates, the president cannot simply ignore the law when it proves inconvenient.”

“Today’s decision is another victory for federal employees and for the rule of law,” said AFGE National President Everett Kelley. “When Congress voted to end the longest government shutdown in history, it spoke clearly and unambiguously that further reductions-in-force were prohibited, and any RIFs that occurred during the shutdown were required to be reversed. The administration’s continued defiance of that mandate is part of a troubling pattern of egregious actions against federal employees and the American public. We are grateful to the court for stepping in to uphold the law and protect federal workers.”

“Congress was clear when it passed, and the president signed the law ending the shutdown: reductions in force were prohibited. The administration’s attempt to proceed anyway was unlawful, and today’s ruling confirms this,” said John Dinkelman, president of AFSA. “We will continue to fight to ensure that Foreign Service professionals are treated with the respect the law demands.”

"On behalf of approximately 110,000 blue and white collar government workers across the United States, NFFE is committed to ensuring our members are treated fairly and not unlawfully fired," said NFFE National President Randy Erwin. "As the first federal employee union in the United States, we know that federal employees are responsible for work depended on by millions of Americans, and that this decision will mean these diligent federal workers will not be unlawfully forced out of their jobs. We are deeply grateful for this decision and for the partnership of the other Plaintiffs in this case."

“We are grateful that the court has stopped the Trump-Vance administration’s illegal and disastrous attempt to fire civil servants, yet again,” said Skye Perryman, President and CEO of Democracy Forward. “No one should be surprised when President Trump breaks his word, but to directly contradict a law he just signed himself is an unfortunate reminder that we cannot trust a single thing this president and his administration says or does. Democracy Forward is honored to work with workers unions across the nation to protect the nonpartisan civil service that works for all Americans, and to hold President Trump accountable to the people and laws of our nation.”

”Today’s order prevents the Administration’s misguided attempt to impose more harm on federal employees who want nothing other than to continue doing the jobs that Congress intended them to do,” said Danielle Leonard, Altshuler Berzon LLP.  “There is nothing ambiguous about the mandate Congress gave the Administration in November or the fact that these terminations violate that law.”

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Democracy Defenders Fund brings together a nonpartisan team to work with national, state, and local allies across the country to defend in real-time the foundations of our democracy.