Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, LITIGATION NEWS, TRENDS—State Department’s previously announced reorganization plans prohibited by prior injunctive relief, (Jun 16, 2025)

By WK Editorial Staff

The plaintiffs, including the American Federation of Government Employees, raised concerns over noncompliance with the court’s May TRO and preliminary injunction.

In a short two-page order issued June 13, a federal court in California addressed concerns raised by a collection of unions, nonprofit organizations, and local governments that challenge the Trump administration’s ongoing layoffs of federal workers pursuant to Executive Order 14210, which directs federal agency heads “to initiate large-scale reductions in force (RIFs)” focusing on the President’s agency reorganization priorities. The plaintiffs raised concerns over apparent non-compliance with the court’s May 9 temporary restraining order and/or its May 22 preliminary injunction. Specifically, they questioned the termination of probationary employees at defendant Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) after the issuance of the court’s May 9 TRO and with the defendant State Department’s notification to Congress that it would soon initiate widespread reductions in force.

State Department actions. In its order, the court found that actions to be taken pursuant to the State Department’s reorganization plans first announced publicly on April 22, 2025, and later provided to Congress, are prohibited by its injunctive relief, as are all final separations scheduled in the State Department’s Counter Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference program. The court ordered the State Department to direct any questions about whether planned actions fall within the scope of the injunction to it before taking action.

HUD terminations. As to the termination of probationary employees at HUD, the court found it did not have enough information to determine whether this action was prohibited by the injunction. Thus, it directed HUD to provide to it for in camera review a copy of any Phase 1 or Phase 2 Agency RIF and Reorganization Plans (ARRPs) it has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget and/or the Office of Personnel Management and any versions of ARRPs that the OMB and/or OPM have approved. The court also ordered HUD to provide the same ARRPs to plaintiffs’ counsel but directed that plaintiffs’ counsel not share the plans or their contents with their clients or any third parties unless or until it orders otherwise.

The case is No. 25-cv-03698-SI.

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