The Supreme Court’s decision on Tuesday opened the door for President Donald Trump’s administration to pursue thousands of government job cuts across multiple agencies. While administration officials have called the effort a streamlining of government, unions and their allies warn the layoffs will disrupt lives and essential services, and hollow out agencies already stretched thin.
The White House on Tuesday had applauded the Supreme Court ruling but stopped short of saying agencies could immediately execute the workforce reduction plans they drafted at Trump’s direction earlier this year.
With hundreds of thousands of unionised federal workers, large-scale layoffs must also comply with labour contracts or risk additional legal challenges.
Legal experts say that even if the administration meets basic legal thresholds, agencies may still face broader lawsuits related to due process, civil service protections, union rights and public access to services.
One of the senior officials said the administration expects legal challenges.
“You’re just going to see in the coming days, the different plans that sort of come out … they’re going to be legally sound, (but) they’re still gonna get lawsuits, because that’s just the way it goes,” the official said.
