With new power, Trump will move immediately to lay off federal workers

Supreme Court allows Trump administration to move forward with large-scale staff cuts

https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/07/09/trump-wins-broad-authority-to-lay-off-federal-workers-without-congress/84520149007/



President Donald Trump has seized the authority to lay off federal workers and reorganize the federal government in a way that critics say no president has been able to do in more than 100 years. The power, which the Supreme Court gave temporarily in a July 8 order, puts at risk thousands of federal jobs across the country at agencies that collect taxes, provide health care to veterans, and help administer retirement benefits.

Labor unions say the cuts fly in the face of established law and decades of tradition, but a senior White House official told USA the layoffs are legal, and the administration intends toimmediately reduce the size of government. While the court did not rule on the underlying question of Trump's ability to enact widespread job cuts, the justices said they were likely to affirm that power.

A final decision in favor of the president will continue a trend in which the executive branch increases its power in relation to Congress and the courts − making Trump and future presidents more powerful than they’ve been in generations. The American Federation of Government Employees, a labor union that partnered with outside groups and local governments to sue the Trump administration, said the high court "has dealt a serious blow to our democracy and puts services that the American people rely on in grave jeopardy."

Trump, Musk and a California judge


Elon Musk displays a chainsaw given to him by Argentine President Javier Milei during the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) outside Washington, D.C., on Feb. 20, 2025.

Trump began the mass layoffs, called a reduction in force, when he signed an executive order Feb. 11 flanked by then-aide Elon Musk. The order called on agencies to begin a monthslong process to reduce the ranks of government “to the extent applicable by law.” AFGE, the largest federal labor union, joined with other unions, nonprofit organizations and local governments on April 28 to sue the Trump administration, saying that it needed Congress’ approval for mass layoffs.

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