A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to detail any planned firings of Interior Department employees by Friday afternoon, after unions representing federal employees raised alarms about pending actions in court documents filed late Thursday.
Judge Susan Illston, who serves in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, also set a status hearing for 3 p.m. Pacific Time on Friday to discuss Interior’s alleged plans to “issue widespread reduction-in-force notices” beginning as early as Monday.
Interior did not respond to requests for comment before publication time. But Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and other senior staff have spent months planning layoffs, which could include employees across the department who work in Bureau of Reclamation, Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, Office of the Secretary and other agencies.
Illston on Wednesday temporarily barred the Trump administration from moving forward on layoffs during the ongoing federal government shutdown or from enforcing any RIF notices already issued. But in a court filing, union attorneys said they had received information that Interior is still planning to issue “thousands” of layoff notices.
