The Supreme Court recently lifted a ban on government cut-back efforts initiated by the Trump administration, pending a legal challenge. This decision rescinds the prohibitory injunction previously installed by a district court. The restructuring and downsizing plans for the federal workforce laid out by the administration can now proceed as scheduled.
In February, President Trump mandated federal agencies to start curbing ‘excess, redundancy, and detachment’ within the bureaucracy structure. The President instructed agency leaders to prepare for significant staff reductions within the perimeters of the law. To further constrict expenditures, he ordered a halt in hiring and made an open call for voluntary resignations.
Elon Musk was guiding the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) austerity mission, which was aimed at reducing the government’s expenditure. Despite Musk no longer being in the picture, the operations of DOGE are still ongoing, maintaining their focus on fiscal responsibility.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was the sole Supreme Court Justice who dissented with the order, opting not to discuss specifics of the downsizing plan. According to Justice Jackson, retaining the status quo—holding redundancies at bay—should be the course of action until the legal action brought forward by the American Federation of Government Employees is resolved.
She proposed that large-scale layoffs of governmental employees could potentially lead to irreversible damage. However, she lamented; ‘… this Court perceives it apt to intervene now and issue the President’s demolition ball at the commencement of this lawsuit.’ The majority of the court, however, found it likely that the administration’s assertion of the lawfulness of the executive order would be victorious, leading them to revoke the injunction.
A spokeswoman for the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) expressed their satisfaction with the Supreme Court’s decision to acknowledge the executive order’s legality. The office envisions cooperating closely with various federal agencies to develop an extremely effective and efficient workforce. This, they hope, will result in better public services at massively reduced costs.
Earlier this month, the OPM released its initial review of employment trends since the Trump administration took over. At the end of March, the federal civilian workforce consisted of close to 2.3 million employees. This signified a reduction of more than 23,000 positions as compared to the end of the previous fiscal year.
Additional data obtained from the Federal Reserve indicated that 57,000 federal employees had been terminated since the beginning of the year. The OPM accredited these early figures to the hiring freeze enforced by President Trump.
It was noted by the OPM that a large number of personnel had been handed notices of termination or workforce reduction, although they continued to be salaried due to court-issued orders. Although, with the recent lifting of the injunction, the employment status of some could invariably be endangered.
The American Federation of Government Employees, along with other objectors, voiced their displeasure at the Supreme Court’s decision. The coalition claimed that the ruling had dealt a heavy blow to the pillars of democracy and jeopardized the services upon which the American public depends.
In their statement, they declared, ‘Today’s verdict does not alter the plain and evident truth that decrepit governmental functions and random mass layoffs of federal workers without the endorsement of Congress contradict our Constitution.’
The contingency plans for downsizing across different departments appear to be uncertain. Following the release of the Supreme Court’s verdict, the State Department indicated its intention to proceed with its restructuring strategy. On the other hand, the Department of Veterans Affairs shelved its scheme to make approximately 80,000 employees redundant.
The Veterans Affairs department, boasting the largest payroll across the 18 cabinet-level departments, seemed like an obvious target for cut-backs. The department now anticipates reducing their workforce by around 30,000 employees by the end of the fiscal year. This will be achieved through regular attrition, early retirements, voluntary resignations, and adherence to the hiring freeze.
The Department of Government Efficiency claims to have accumulated $190 billion in savings for taxpayers through cancellation of extravagant government contracts, asset sales, anti-fraud measures, grant withholdings, program alterations, staffing cutbacks, among others. Nonetheless, some experts are skeptical, suggesting that DOGE’s allegations regarding savings may be overstated.
With Musk no longer at the helm of DOGE, it remains a question whether the administration will maintain the momentum built in employee layoffs. The federal worker compensation stands at approximately $400 billion, a drop in the ocean compared to the approximately $7 trillion federal expenditure.