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The Supreme Court’s order letting Trump conduct mass federal layoffs, briefly explained
Trump wants to lay off thousands of federal employees. Now, he can.
Cameron Peters is a staff editor at Vox.
Welcome to The Logoff: President Donald Trump can proceed with his campaign of mass firings in the federal government, the Supreme Court announced today, clearing the way for a dramatic hollowing-out of agencies that may be hard to reverse.
What does Trump want to do? In February, the Trump administration directed federal agencies to prepare for “large-scale reductions in force” — in other words, mass layoffs and reorganizations of the federal workforce. Those layoffs had been blocked by a lower court, but can now go forward.
What did the Court say? Tuesday’s decision isn’t a final ruling on whether Trump can fire federal employees en masse — but it will likely have a seismic impact. It allows the administration to proceed with layoffs pending a final decision on the merits, and that damage may be hard to undo even if the administration later loses its case.
Which agencies could be impacted? The full scope of the administration’s cuts is uncertain, but Trump has previously proposed cutting more than 100,000 federal jobs. And what we do know about the administration’s layoff plans paints a grim picture: entire federal programs and agencies could be laid to waste, plaintiffs in the case now before the Court allege. Seven thousand employees of the Social Security Administration, which is already suffering from staffing shortages, could be fired, and as much as half of the Department of Energy.
What’s the big picture? Tuesday’s order significantly expands Trump’s power to put his own stamp on the federal government by dismantling swaths of its workforce, and simultaneously weakens Congress’s role in the separation of powers.
As the California district court judge who initially blocked Trump’s order wrote: “After dramatic staff reductions, these agencies will not be able to do what Congress has directed them to do.” At least for now, the Supreme Court has allowed Trump to proceed with dismantling them anyway.
And with that, it’s time to log off…
The first drug to treat malaria infections in newborn babies has been approved in Switzerland and could soon be cleared for use in at least eight sub-Saharan African countries, where malaria remains a serious threat. More than three-quarters of malaria deaths in the World Health Organization’s Africa region are children under five, and the drug promises to close a key treatment gap. It’s a bit of unvarnished good news for your evening, and an important reminder of the value of science. Have a great evening and we’ll see you back here tomorrow!
