The U.S. Supreme Court delivered a major victory to President Donald Trump on Tuesday, clearing the way for his administration to resume sweeping efforts to reduce the size of the federal workforce and restructure government agencies—one of Trump’s key promises during his campaign.
In a brief, unsigned order, the Court lifted a lower court injunction issued by U.S. District Judge Susan Illston in May that had blocked large-scale “reductions in force” (RIFs) across dozens of federal departments. The Supreme Court concluded the administration was “likely to succeed” in its argument that the February executive order and the subsequent implementation memo were legally valid under presidential authority.
The move allows Trump to proceed with downsizing efforts at agencies including the Departments of Agriculture, State, Treasury, Veterans Affairs, Health and Human Services, and many more. The plan could affect hundreds of thousands of federal jobs and would constitute the largest personnel reorganization in modern government history.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was the lone dissenter. In a sharply worded opinion, she accused the majority of once again enabling legally dubious executive actions under the guise of emergency relief. “This court’s demonstrated enthusiasm for greenlighting this president’s legally dubious actions in an emergency posture is disturbing,” Jackson wrote.
Judge Illston’s original ruling had sided with a coalition of federal worker unions, nonprofits, and local governments, finding that Trump had exceeded his constitutional authority by bypassing Congress. The ruling halted layoffs, blocked agency restructuring, and ordered the temporary reinstatement of some employees—though that last measure was delayed pending appeals.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Illston’s injunction in late May, calling Trump’s plan “an unprecedented attempted restructuring of the federal government.” The court stated that the administration had failed to prove it would suffer irreparable harm if the freeze remained in place, and that Congress—not the president—holds the authority to fundamentally reshape federal agencies.
Following that setback, the Justice Department filed an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court on June 2, arguing that agency staffing decisions fall squarely within the president’s Article II executive powers and do not require congressional permission. The high court’s decision to intervene reverses the 9th Circuit’s earlier rejection.
Notably, the Court did not rule on the broader legality of the mass layoffs themselves, meaning litigation over the substance of the executive order is ongoing. But by lifting the injunction, the justices have cleared the path for the administration to immediately resume layoff planning and agency restructuring.
The reorganization effort is being coordinated through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a Trump-era initiative originally advised by Elon Musk. DOGE has been tasked with identifying redundant federal programs and staff, though Musk publicly cut ties with the administration in late May after a falling out.
Tuesday’s order is just the latest in a string of emergency rulings favoring the Trump administration. In recent months, the Court has allowed the White House to resume deportations to third countries, end humanitarian protections for certain migrants, enforce a military ban on transgender-identifying individuals, and limit the power of federal judges to issue nationwide injunctions against executive actions.
