A federal judge in California has temporarily blocked the U.S. State Department from moving forward with a planned reorganization involving approximately 2,000 layoffs.
During a virtual hearing on June 13, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston said that her earlier order—issued in May to halt mass federal layoffs directed by President Donald Trump—also applies to the State Department’s planned workforce reduction. The Department of Justice acknowledged during the hearing that layoff notices set to be issued on Saturday would no longer go out.
The State Department had argued that its reorganization plan, submitted to Congress last month, predated Trump’s February executive order and a related White House memorandum directing large-scale cuts across the federal workforce. As such, the department contended, its plan should fall outside the scope of the court’s injunction….