FILE - Image of the U.S. Supreme Court and President Donald Trump. (Getty Images)
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court on Tuesday cleared the way for President Donald Trump’s plans to downsize the federal workforce.
The justices overrode lower court orders that temporarily froze the cuts, which had been led by the Department of Government Efficiency.
The court said in an unsigned order that no specific cuts were in front of the justices, only an executive order issued by Trump and an administration directive for agencies to undertake job reductions.
Tens of thousands of federal workers fired
The backstory:
Tens of thousands of federal workers have been fired, have left their jobs via deferred resignation programs or have been placed on leave.
There is no official figure for the job cuts, but at least 75,000 federal employees took deferred resignation and thousands of probationary workers have already been let go.
The high court action continued a remarkable winning streak for Trump, who the justices have allowed to move forward with significant parts of his plan to remake the federal government.
The other side:
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was the only dissenting vote, accusing her colleagues of a "demonstrated enthusiasm for greenlighting this President’s legally dubious actions in an emergency posture."
Jackson warned of enormous real-world consequences.
What they're saying:
"This executive action promises mass employee terminations, widespread cancellation of federal programs and services, and the dismantling of much of the Federal Government as Congress has created it," she wrote.
Which agencies are impacted?
Dig deeper:
The agencies affected by the order are:
- Agriculture
- Energy
- Labor
- The Interior
- State
- The Treasury
- Veterans Affairs
- The National Science Foundation
- Small Business Association
- Social Security Administration
- Environmental Protection Agency
The Source: Information for this article was taken from The Associated Press.