Supreme Court clears the way for Trump's plans to downsize the federal workforce

[pat_k]

12. My understanding is that it is actually a bit of a mixed decision.

If I understand Nina Totenberg's analysis correctly, they lifted the lower court's order blocking the firings because the order was not related to pausing a specific "reduction in force" plan pending adjudication of the legality of the plan. They apparently affirmed that the legality of a specific "plan" could be challenged, but that there was no specific plan before the court, so they lifted the order.

It seems to me that the judge can infer the "plan" by the number of people who received termination notices. She could then reinstate the block because the plaintiffs are likely to prove the number of firings render the agency incapable of fulfilling it's congressional mandate, and are therefore likely to prevail. The 47 regime is then challenged to defend their "plan" and submit specifics for review. They would have to make the case that an agency with almost 0 people left can somehow fulfill the congressional mandate.

Of course, I'm not a lawyer, so I could be way out in left field.

Here's the analysis I heard (I may be reading more into it than is there):
https://www.npr.org/2025/04/09/nx-s1-5356191/scotus-on-probationary-employees