By Daniel Visner and Tom Hals
(Reuters) -The American Court of Appeal on Friday refused to allow President Donald Trump’s administration to carry out mass cuts of federal workers and restructuring agencies, leaving a lower court order that blocks the major government repairs.
The decision of the US-based 9th Court of Appeal in San Francisco means that the Trump administration cannot continue with plans to throw tens of thousands of federal jobs and close many government services and programs.
US District Judge Susan Ilston in San Francisco on May 22 blocks large -scale cuts in about 20 federal agencies, agreeing with a group of unions, non -profit organizations and municipalities that the president can restructure agencies only when he is authorized by Congress.
On Friday, in a decision with three judges in the 9th round, in a 2: 1 decision denied the Trump administration’s proposal to remain Ilston’s decision in anticipation of an appeal, which may take months to resolve. The administration will probably now ask the US Supreme Court to suspend the decision.
“The Trump administration will immediately fight this absurd order,” the White House said in a statement. “A judge is trying to non -constitutionally seized the power of hiring and dismissal from the executive.”
A plaintiff’s coalition praised the decision: “The decision of the ninth round today rightly maintains the block for the illegal, destructive and destructive reorganization of the federal government of the federal government.”
The Court of Appeal stated that the administration had not provided any evidence that it would suffer irreparable harm if the lower court order remained in place and stated that the plaintiffs would probably prevail.
“The executive order considered here goes beyond the supervisory powers of the president under the Constitution,” said the opinion of a majority of Judge William Fletcher, appointed by Democratic President Bill Clinton. He was joined by Judge Lucy Co, appointed by democratic President Joe Biden.
Judge Consuelo Kalahan, who was appointed by Republican President George W. Bush, did not agree, saying that the administration was likely to succeed in appealing and had suffered irreparable damage to his policy blocking.
Government major
Ilston’s decision was the worst of its kind against the major renovation of the government, which was led by Trump’s ally Elon Musk, the largest person in the world and the executive director of the electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla. Along with the blockage of cuts, Ilston has banned the Ministry of Efficiency of the Government from ordering workpieces or reorganization in federal agencies.
Dozens of court cases challenge Doge’s work on various grounds, including the allegations that she has violated laws of work and confidentiality and exceeded her authority with mixed results. Two judges separately ordered the Trump administration to recover thousands of test officials, who were usually more rents and were dismissed in February, but the appellate courts stopped these decisions.
Musk joined a farewell event in the oval office with Trump on Friday, marking the end of his active participation in the administration.
Trump in February also directed government agencies to work with Doge to identify goals for mass cuts as part of the administration restructuring plans.
The Republican president called on the agencies to remove the duplicate roles, unnecessary managerial layers and non -critical jobs, while automating routine tasks, closing regional services and reducing the use of external contractors. Most federal agencies have announced plans to dismiss a large number of workers, including 10,000 employees of health agencies.
In the case of Friday, the unions and the groups that judge said only the Congress had the authority to create agencies, to shape its missions and to solve the levels of funding, and the large -scale cuts undermined that power.
Ilston, also appointed to Clinton, said in his decision that the plaintiffs would probably suffer a number of irreparable damage if the cuts were applied.
She said, for example, that the US Labor Service in Pittsburgh, which examines the health hazards that workers face, will lose everyone but one of their 222 employees.
Ilston gave similar examples in the local Head Start offices, which supports early training, Agency for Agricultural Services and the Social Security Administration.
(Report from Daniel Visner in Albani, New York; Edit by Alexia Garafalvi, Rod Nickel and Tom Hog))