By Daniel Wiessner
Dec 17 (Reuters) - A federal judge on Wednesday said she would block President Donald Trump's administration from laying off hundreds of federal employees, the latest legal setback for Trump's efforts to downsize the U.S. government workforce.
U.S. District Judge Susan Illston during a hearing in San Francisco said hundreds of layoffs at four agencies were likely not allowed under a law Congress passed last month to end a 43-day government shutdown.
"The chaotic nature of these [layoffs]
has been continuing and has affected employees of the government in many ways, including loss of potential alternative jobs and loss of healthcare coverage," Illston said.
Illston, an appointee of Democratic former President Bill Clinton, said she would block the U.S. State Department and Education Department from laying off about 250 and 150 employees respectively, pending the outcome of a lawsuit by unions.
She also said she intended to order State, the Defense Department, the General Services Administration, and the Small Business Administration to reinstate roughly 300 people who lost their jobs during the shutdown.
Illston said she would issue a written order later on Wednesday detailing her decision.
The judge said she would likely pause all or part of her ruling until next week to give the government time to appeal. Illston said she did not want to worsen the “whiplash” for federal workers, some of whom have been laid off and reinstated numerous times this year.
The unions involved in the case praised Illston's decision in a statement.
“No one should be surprised when President Trump breaks his word, but to directly contradict a law he just signed himself is an unfortunate reminder that we cannot trust a single thing this president and his administration says or does," said Skye Perryman, president of Democracy Forward, a legal group representing the unions.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The law ending the shutdown, known as a continuing resolution, prohibits agencies from implementing layoffs through January 30. The Trump administration has argued that the law does not apply to job cuts announced before the shutdown began on October 1, such as the layoffs at the State and Education departments.
Illston during Wednesday's hearing disagreed, siding with the American Federation of Government Employees and other unions. The lawsuit was originally filed in October to block more than 4,000 layoffs at several agencies, including the State Department during the government shutdown.
Illston had ruled for the unions, saying that implementing layoffs was not an essential government service that could continue during a shutdown.
(Reporting by Daniel Wiessner in Albany, New York, Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Aurora Ellis)
