OAN Staff Brooke Mallory
1:31 PM – Wednesday, July 9, 2025
The Supreme Court lifted a lower court order on Tuesday that blocked sweeping layoffs of federal workers at nearly two dozen agencies while a legal battle over President Donald Trump’s plans to drastically cut waste, fraud, and abuse in the government moves forward.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was the sole dissenting voice in the Supreme Court’s 8–1 decision to lift the injunction blocking the Trump administration’s federal workforce cuts.
The High Court’s order clears the way for the Trump administration to resume its efforts to reorganize and scale back the federal government, which has been led by the White House’s Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE.
The Justice Department turned to the Supreme Court for emergency relief after a federal judge in May ordered a halt to the job cuts and enforcement of other orders by DOGE to slash DEI programs or unneeded staff.
“Because the government is likely to succeed on its argument that the executive order and memorandum are lawful — and because the other factors bearing on whether to grant a stay are satisfied — we grant the application,” the court said. “We express no view on the legality of any agency [reduction-in-force] and reorganization plan produced or approved pursuant to the executive order and memorandum. The district court enjoined further implementation or approval of the plans based on its view about the illegality of the executive order and memorandum, not on any assessment of the plans themselves. Those plans are not before this court.”
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was the only dissent from the Court’s decision, though she criticized the majority for displaying an “enthusiasm for greenlighting this president’s legally dubious actions in an emergency posture.”
In a separate statement, Justice Sonia Sotomayor also claimed that the GOP president lacks authority to restructure federal agencies in a manner that contravenes congressional mandates. However, the specific agency plans for reductions-in-force “are not yet before the Supreme Court” — so she voted along with the majority.
“[W]e thus have no occasion to consider whether they can and will be carried out consistent with the constraints of law,” Sotomayor wrote. “I join the court’s stay because it leaves the district court free to consider those questions in the first instance.”
Additionally, Attorney General Pam Bondi applauded the ruling of the Supreme Court.
“The ruling stopped lawless lower courts from restricting President Trump’s authority over federal personnel — another Supreme Court victory thanks to [Justice Department] attorneys. Now, federal agencies can become more efficient than ever before,” Bondi wrote.
Nonetheless, as expected, a coalition of progressive labor unions, nonprofit organizations, and local governments that initiated the lawsuit expressed immense disappointment with the Supreme Court’s decision.
“Today’s decision has dealt a serious blow to our democracy and puts services that the American people rely on in grave jeopardy. This decision does not change the simple and clear fact that reorganizing government functions and laying off federal workers en masse haphazardly without any congressional approval is not allowed by our Constitution,” the parties that sued said in a joint statement.
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