July 9, 2025: The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday gave a green light to former President Donald Trump’s plans to initiate mass layoffs of federal workers, overturning a lower court ruling that had blocked the move.
In a brief unsigned order, the justices sided with the government’s argument that Trump’s February 11 executive order, which aims to “transform the federal bureaucracy,” falls within presidential authority. The directive instructs federal agencies to eliminate non-essential roles, potentially affecting tens of thousands of employees.
The Supreme Court’s order does not rule on the legality of specific agency reorganization plans, which will continue to face legal scrutiny in lower courts.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor emphasized that the court’s decision does not validate the agency plans themselves, stating, “We thus have no occasion to consider whether they can and will be carried out consistent with the constraints of law.”
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson issued a sole dissent, warning that the court’s action prematurely unleashes the President’s “wrecking ball” on federal institutions. “Presidents… may not fundamentally restructure the Federal Government all on their own,” she wrote.
The executive order is part of a broader effort spearheaded by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)—formerly headed by Elon Musk—to slash federal programs, cut diversity initiatives, and eliminate agencies such as USAID.
A coalition of labor unions and nonprofit groups had sued the Trump administration earlier this year, arguing that such drastic changes required congressional approval. That case will now continue in the lower courts, but without the stay halting implementation.