A federal judge ruled on Thursday that the Trump administration can continue its large-scale dismissals of federal employees, rejecting an attempt by labor unions to halt Donald Trump’s significant reduction of the approximately 2.3 million-member federal workforce.
The decision by U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper in Washington, D.C., is temporary while the case progresses. However, it marks a victory for the Trump administration, which is pushing to overhaul the federal workforce and cut what it considers excessive and fraudulent government spending.
Last week, the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) and four other unions filed a lawsuit seeking to prevent the administration from terminating hundreds of thousands of federal employees and offering buyouts to those who voluntarily resign.
The unions aim to stop eight agencies—including the Department of Defense, Department of Health and Human Services, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and Department of Veterans Affairs—from proceeding with mass layoffs.
In his 16-page ruling, Cooper acknowledged Trump’s “onslaught of executive actions that have caused, some say by design, disruption and even chaos in widespread quarters of American society.”
He further stated: “Affected citizens and their advocates have challenged many of these actions on an emergency basis in this Court and others across the country.”
However, Cooper indicated on Thursday that he likely lacks jurisdiction over the case, suggesting that the unions should instead bring their grievances before the Federal Labor Relations Authority, which handles disputes between unions and federal agencies.
Cooper wrote: “NTEU fails to establish that it is likely to succeed on the merits because this Court likely lacks subject matter jurisdiction over the claims it asserts. The Court will therefore deny the unions’ motion for a temporary restraining order and, for the same reasons, deny their request for a preliminary injunction.”
Trump appointed Tesla CEO Elon Musk to lead the so-called “department of government efficiency” (Doge), which has been aggressively cutting jobs and dismantling federal programs since Trump assumed office last month.
Under Musk’s leadership, the administration has identified what it considers unnecessary government spending, and federal agencies have been directed to collaborate with Doge to determine which employees should be laid off.
Last week, termination emails were sent to federal employees across multiple agencies, mainly targeting recently hired probationary workers. Affected departments included the Department of Education, the Small Business Administration, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the General Services Administration, and others.
The plaintiffs—including the United Auto Workers, the NTEU, and the National Federation of Federal Employees—argued in their lawsuit that the administration’s workforce reduction efforts, including those carried out through Doge, violate separation-of-powers principles by undermining Congress’s authority to allocate funding for federal agencies.
The unions warned that, unless the court intervenes, they will suffer irreparable harm from losing dues-paying members who have been either terminated or retired early in exchange for buyouts.
US President Donald Trump (Photo: Getty Images)
In a statement issued last Wednesday, NTEU President Doreen Greenwald declared: “We will not stand idly by while this administration takes illegal actions that will harm citizens, federal employees and the economy.”
She continued: “All of these orders are further evidence that this administration is motivated not by efficiency, but by cruelty and a total disregard for the government services that will be lost.”
Most civil service employees can only be terminated for poor performance or misconduct and have extensive due process and appeal rights if dismissed without cause. However, the probationary workers primarily affected by last week’s layoffs have fewer legal protections.
A federal judge overseeing a related case in Boston ruled on February 12 that the administration’s buyout program could proceed. The judge determined that the labor unions lacked legal standing to challenge the policy, as they had not demonstrated how they would be harmed.
The window for accepting buyouts has now closed, with approximately 75,000 federal employees opting into the administration’s offer, according to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. This figure represents roughly 3% of the total federal workforce.
The unions have requested that the judge declare the firings and buyouts unlawful and prevent the government from carrying out further layoffs or offering additional buyouts.
In a court filing on Monday, the government argued that the unions lack standing to sue, asserting that they would not suffer direct harm from the layoffs and buyouts. Furthermore, the administration contended that granting the unions’ request would improperly obstruct the president’s efforts to streamline the federal workforce.
More than 70 lawsuits have been filed challenging Trump’s initiatives to restructure the federal workforce, tighten immigration policies, and rescind transgender rights.
While the legal battles have yielded mixed outcomes, judges have blocked certain aspects of Trump’s high-profile policies, including his attempt to end automatic birthright citizenship for children born in the United States.
On Thursday, it is reported that the Internal Revenue Service had begun dismissing employees as part of the broader workforce reductions.
A source familiar with the matter told the outlet that approximately 7,000 IRS employees were expected to be laid off, representing about 7% of the agency’s 100,000-person workforce.
