U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration must temporarily halt its sweeping government overhaul because Congress did not authorize it to carry out large-scale staffing cuts and the restructuring of agencies, a federal judge has ruled.
U.S. District Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco sided Friday with a group of unions, non-profits and local governments, and blocked large-scale mass layoffs known as “reductions in force” for 14 days.
“As history demonstrates, the president may broadly restructure federal agencies only when authorized by Congress,” said Illston.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The ruling is the broadest of its kind against the government overhaul that has been led by Elon Musk, the world’s richest person who is also CEO of electric-vehicle maker Tesla.
Dozens of lawsuits have challenged the work of the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, on various grounds including violating privacy laws and exceeding …