President Trump’s reductions in force (RIFs) and large-scale agency reorganization effort remains on pause pending the outcome of litigation making its way through the legal system. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit continued the pause instituted by a lower court ruling. The legal battle will likely head to the Supreme Court for its ultimate resolution, as the Justice Department asked it to intervene.

The lawsuit stems from unions and other federal employee advocacy groups suing the Trump administration over its efforts to sharply downsize the federal workforce, including RIFs that have already been put in place. Solicitor General D. John Sauer argues the district court’s injunction on RIFs is "flawed" and rests on an "indefensible premise."

"It interferes with the Executive Branch's internal operations and unquestioned legal authority to plan and carry out RIFs, and does so on a government-wide scale," Sauer wrote. "More concretely, the injunction has brought to a halt numerous in-progress RIFs at more than a dozen federal agencies, sowing confusion about what RIF-related steps agencies may take and compelling the government to retain — at taxpayer expense — thousands of employees whose continuance in federal service the agencies deem not to be in the government and public interest."

In February, President Trump signed an executive order advancing his RIF effort. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) followed that EO with subsequent memorandums requiring agencies to submit RIF and reorganization plans.

Following this action, labor unions and other groups filed lawsuits to block the RIFs, saying President Trump’s actions exceed his legal authority and violate the separation of powers. The government contends President Trump is the unquestioned head of the executive branch and does not need Congressional approval to oversee decisions affecting personnel in that branch.

"Presidents may set policy priorities for the executive branch, and agency heads may implement them. This much is undisputed," U.S. District Court Judge Susan Illston ruled. "But Congress creates federal agencies, funds them, and gives them duties that — by statute — they must carry out. Agencies may not conduct large-scale reorganizations and reductions in force in blatant disregard of Congress's mandates, and a president may not initiate large-scale executive branch reorganization without partnering with Congress."

The Justice Department took the case to the 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals following Judge Illston’s ruling. The appeals court upheld the district court’s ruling, by a 2-1 vote, leading the government to ask for the Supreme Court to step in.

Administration Outlines Reduction Plans for 2026

While the legal battle over RIFs continues, the Trump Administration outlined plans to cut 107,000 additional federal jobs – approximately 7 percent of the workforce – in 2026. The largest proposed cuts are for employees at the Department of Education, OPM, General Services Administration, the Small Business Administration and NASA. The Department of Agriculture and Labor, Housing and Urban Development are planning to cut more than 20 percent of the workforce at their respective agencies.

Government Executive detailed the proposed workforce cuts here. The Department of Defense is not included in the document, but has previously announced expected RIFs for 5-8 percent of its workforce, or approximately 61,000 employees.