DOGE gets a legal leash: Judge blocks Trump firings, for now

The Department of Government Efficiency has targeted agencies including the Environmental Protection Agency and the Interior Department for mass firings.

A photo of anti-DOGE protests, courtesy Geoff Livingston via Flickr.

A California federal judge last night issued a temporary restraining order blocking Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency and Donald Trump from further mass government workforce firings.

U.S. District Judge Susan Illston said that the challengers in the case — a coalition of groups including labor advocates, environmentalists, public lands advocates, Democratic-led cities and others — are likely to succeed on at least some of their claims that presidents must seek congressional approval before making big reorganizations of the federal government.

The lawsuit relates to so-called “reductions in force” (RIFs) that the Musk-led DOGE has been carrying out at agencies including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Interior Department, the U.S. Energy Department and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, among others.

Illston said it is the “prerogative of presidents to pursue new policy priorities,” but that the firings may be going too far.

“Federal courts should not micromanage the vast federal workforce, but courts must sometimes act to preserve the proper checks and balances between the three branches of government,” wrote Illston, an appointee of former President Bill Clinton.

She also said that she would not consider staying the temporary restraining order, saying that would be “pointless.” She set a hearing for motions filed seeking a preliminary injunction in the case for May 22, and requested the government file memos showing it is complying with the temporary restraining order.

The U.S. Department of Justice has already filed an appeal at the 9th Circuit.

The April 28 lawsuit alleges that the Trump administration’s effort to fire employees across government agencies amounts to executive overreach in violation of the U.S. Constitution’s separation of powers doctrine.

The coalition challengers include the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Western Watersheds Project, the Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks and others. They welcomed the decision.

“The Trump administration’s unlawful attempt to reorganize the federal government has thrown agencies into chaos, disrupting critical services provided across our nation,” the coalition said.