SAN FRANCISCO β A federal judge in San Francisco on Tuesday indefinitely barred the Trump administration from firing federal employees during the government shutdown, saying that labor unions were likely to prevail on their claims that the cuts were arbitrary and politically motivated.
U.S. District Judge Susan Illston granted a preliminary injunction that bars the firings while a lawsuit challenging them plays out. She previously issued a temporary restraining order against the job cuts that was set to expire Wednesday.
Illston, who was nominated by Democratic President Bill Clinton, has said she believes the evidence will ultimately show the mass firings were illegal and in excess of authority.
Vice President JD Vance, center, arrives for a Senate Republican Conference luncheonΒ Tuesday, day 28 of the government shutdown, at the U.S. CapitolΒ in Washington.
Federal agencies are enjoined from issuing layoff notices or acting on notices issued since the government shut down Oct. 1. Illston said her order does not apply to notices sent before the shutdown.
The Republican administration slashed jobs in education, health and other areas it says are favored by Democrats.
The administration also said it will not tap roughly $5 billion in contingency funds to keep benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly referred to as SNAP, flowing into November.
The American Federation of Government Employees and other labor unions sued to stop the βreductions in forceβ layoffs, saying the firings were an abuse of power designed to punish workers and pressure Congress.
The AFGE is urging Congress to pass a clean short-term funding bill to end the 27-day government shutdown thatβs left over 1.4 million federal workers unpaid or furloughed.
Lawyers for the government say the district court does not have the authority to hear personnel challenges, and Trump has broad authority to reduce the federal workforce as he pledged to do during the campaign.
βThe president was elected on this specific platform," Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Velchik said. βThe American people selected someone known above all else for his eloquence in communicating to employees that youβre fired, this is what they voted for.β
Trump starred on a long-running reality TV series called βThe Apprenticeβ in which his signature catchphrase was telling candidates they were fired.
About 4,100 layoff notices went out since Oct. 10, some sent to work email addresses that furloughed employees are not allowed to check. Some personnel were called back to work, without pay, to issue layoff notices to others.
Air Traffic Controller Claudia Peterfeso distributes leaflets explaining how the federal government shutdown is affecting air travel Tuesday at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport in Romulus, Mich.
Democratic lawmakers demand that a deal to reopen the federal government address expiring health care subsidies that made health insurance more affordable for millions of Americans. They also want any government funding bill to reverse the Medicaid cuts in Trumpβs big tax breaks and spending cuts bill passed this summer.
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., refused to negotiate with Democrats until they first agree to reopen the government.
This is now the second-longest shutdown in U.S. history. The longest shutdown occurred during Trumpβs first term over his demands for funds to build the U.S.-Mexico border wall. That one ended in 2019 after 35 days.
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What photos show about the U.S. government shutdown
Stairs lead to the Capitol Visitors Center with just days to go before federal money runs out with the end of the fiscal year, in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
President Donald Trump walks from Marine One after arriving on the South Lawn of the White House, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., center, flanked by Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., left, and Rep. Katherine Clark, D-Mass., arrives to speak on the steps of the Capitol to insist that Republicans include an extension of expiring health care benefits as part of a government funding compromise, in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
The sun sets behind the Capitol and Washington Monument, as a vote fails in the Senate which is expected to lead to a government shutdown, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025, as seen from inside the Capitol, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Visitors tour the Capitol Rotunda as the government lurches toward a shutdown at midnight if the Senate does not pass a House measure that would extend federal funding for seven weeks, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., speaks to reporters Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, as the U.S. government is on the brink of the first federal government shutdown in almost seven years.. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of N.Y., listens as he speaks to reporters Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Kaitlin and Kurt Wilhelm, of Sandusky, Ohio, foreground, and others gather on the rocky coast to watch the sunrise, Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025, in Acadia National Park, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
A visitor walks at the Lincoln Memorial at sunrise on Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
American flags fly in front of the U.S. Capitol at sunrise, Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
The U.S. Capitol is seen at sunrise as cars drive on Pennsylvania Ave. during rush hour traffic, Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Tourist view Independence Hall from outside a barricade in Philadelphia, Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., gives a tour of the Capitol to a group of students from New York after their previously-scheduled tour was canceled due to the government shutdown on Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., the Senate GOP whip, left, and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., right, arrive for a news conference with top Republicans on the government shutdown, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
A sign alerting visitors that the Royal Palm Visitor Center is closed hangs in a display case reflecting the landscape, inside Florida's Everglades National Park, Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
A sign announces that the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center is closed, on the first day of a partial government shutdown, Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
People take photos with a sign announcing that the Library of Congress is closed, on the first day of a partial government shutdown, Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
People look through fence to get a glance at the Statue of Liberty in New York, Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
A tourist stops to read the sign announcing that the Washington Monument is closed on the first day of a partial government shutdown, Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025, inWashington.(AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
Christy Lock and Curt Rohrman, from Houston get a phone call informing them their tickets for a tram ride to the top of Gateway Arch are cancelled due to the federal government shutdown and that they will be receiving a refund on Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025 in St. Louis. (David Carson/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP)
National Park Service law enforcement ranger Greg Freeman opens a locked gate closing vehicle access to the Shark Valley section of Florida's Everglades National Park, as he drives into the park, Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
People look at the Golden Gate Bridge outside the Fort Point National Historic Site, which is closed due to a government shutdown, Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. VΓ‘squez)
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, of N.Y., walks to a press conference on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Layne Morrison, left, of Washington, and Courtney Creek, of Silver Spring, Md., who were let go from their jobs with the Education Department and a USAID funded grant respectively, hold signs about the looming government shutdown, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025, on Capitol Hill in Washington, during a rally with former federal employees. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
