Congress
Judge extends order barring mass firings of federal workers during shutdown
A federal judge has indefinitely extended her order banning the Trump administration from mass firing federal employees during the government shutdown.
Following a hearing Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston granted a preliminary injunction blocking reductions in force — better known as RIFs — at most major government agencies.
Barring further action by a higher court, Illston’s decision limits the Trump administration’s ability to continue downsizing the federal government and moves it has made to leverage the ongoing shutdown to cut federal programs and agencies favored by Democrats.
The Office of Personnel Management, the Office of Management and Budget “and the federal agency defendants are enjoined from issuing any more RIF notices because of the shutdown,” said Illston, a San Francisco-based Clinton appointee. The judge also barred the administration from implementing RIF notices issued during the shutdown and said she might hold further court proceedings to resolve disputes about some RIFs that were in the works just before the shutdown began on Oct. 1.
The Trump administration is expected to appeal Illston’s ruling to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment. OMB spokespeople did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A Justice Department attorney defending the administration at the hearing Tuesday, Michael Velchik, said the firings were lawful and represented the will of the electorate expressed through President Donald Trump’s victory at the polls last year.
“The American people selected someone known above all else for his eloquence in communicating to employees that, ‘You’re fired!’” Velchik said, referring to Trump’s trademark line on his television show, “The Apprentice.”
However, Illston bluntly rejected the administration’s key arguments, including that the lapse in appropriations gave agencies new flexibility to fire workers because unfunded programs are no longer required by law.
“I think that’s completely wrong,” the judge said.
Velchik was undeterred. “I think that’s obviously correct. I think all three branches of government agree on that,” he said.
A lawyer representing the federal employee unions challenging the RIFs said that argument suggests Trump could permanently dismantle every federal agency simply because Congress failed to meet a funding deadline.
“What counsel is arguing is that if Congress lets funding lapse for one day, the president can fire the entire federal government. That is absurd,” the unions’ attorney, Danielle Leonard, said.
On Monday, one of the unions suing, AFGE, shifted its position in the shutdown fight. While it initially joined with other federal employee unions backing Democrats’ resistance to supporting a temporary funding bill, AFGE urged senators to support a three-week funding patch. It fell short in the Senate again Tuesday in a 54-45 vote.
Illston made clear at the outset of the hearing that she intended to issue an injunction that effectively extends a temporary restraining order she issued two weeks ago at the unions’ request. She called it “particularly ironic” that the federal employees sending out the RIF notices appeared to be violating the Anti-Deficiency Act, which prohibits the government from incurring expenses not authorized by Congress, but includes some exceptions for essential activities.
The judge also said she found some accounts from federal RIFed employees “very affecting.”
“I think it’s important that we remember that although we are here talking about statutes and administrative procedure and the like, we are also talking about human lives, and these human lives are being dramatically affected by the activities that we’re discussing this morning,” Illston said.
As an example, she cited an account by a RIFed Department of Housing and Urban Development employee who in a court filing on Oct. 21 wrote that she had never gone through anything as traumatizing as the current experience, including her combat deployment when she was in the Air Force.
The judge also mentioned another account filed in court on Oct. 21 from a RIFed IT specialist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who has been working for the federal government for more than 40 years.
“After 40 years of service, she’s eligible for retirement, but no one at Human Resources can answer her questions about the RIF notice or retiring, because most, if not all, of the HR staff have also been RIFed,” Illston said about the woman. “This is her second RIF notice. She got one earlier in April that was later rescinded.”
That was part of a spring round of RIFs at the Department of Health and Human Services. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said at the time that he sought to downsize the department by about a quarter, to about 62,000 employees.
Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought said earlier this month that he expected the total number of employees fired in connection with the shutdown would “probably end up being north of 10,000.”
Those plans appear to have been scaled back since then, partly due to resistance from other high-level officials in the Trump administration. Trump has said the firings and program terminations are aimed at getting Democrats to cry uncle in the budget fight by targeting constituencies and causes important to them.
Congress
Senate agrees to end shutdown for most of DHS
After two months of unyielding negotiations, both parties gave up early Friday on reaching a grand accord to reform and fund the Department of Homeland Security.
Instead, Senate Republicans accepted what Democrats have been offering for weeks — cash for all of DHS except for ICE and part of Customs and Border Protection.
The Senate approved the funding package by a voice vote and is now expected to begin a scheduled two-week recess. The House could vote as soon as Friday, before the shutdown would break the record Saturday night for the longest funding lapse of any federal agency in U.S. history.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune called the outcome “unfortunate” Friday.
“The Dems wanted reforms. We tried to work with them on reforms. They ended up getting no reforms but, you know, we’re going to have to fight some of those battles another day,” he said.
Thune said the House was “aware” of the Senate’s plan but did not know what the other chamber would do. He also said he spoke with President Donald Trump Thursday.
The Senate’s surrender followed Trump’s announcement Thursday night that DHS will start paying TSA agents, who have worked without compensation since the shutdown began almost six weeks ago. Before that move, lawmakers and their staff worried that a nationwide walkout of TSA agents could take place as soon as Friday, according to four people with knowledge of the discussions.
Democratic senators said minutes after Trump’s announcement that there were still bipartisan talks ongoing. But Republicans, increasingly skeptical that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer would ever cut a deal, signaled that they viewed the negotiations as effectively over.
“Time is up,” Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) said.
For Democrats, the solution to the DHS shutdown means no additional constraints on the two agencies left not fully funded since federal agents fatally shot Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minnesota in January. Democrats refused to approve new spending for those agencies absent major policy changes, including banning DHS agents from wearing masks and requiring judicial warrants for immigration raids.
“Senate Democrats were clear: no blank check for a lawless ICE and Border Patrol,” Schumer said Friday. “Democrats held firm in our opposition that Donald Trump’s rogue and deadly militia should not get more funding without serious reforms.”
The Senate-approved package includes some of the provisions agreed to as part of the January funding negotiations, including $20 million for body cameras for immigration enforcement agents.
Over the last week, Republicans have been talking about pumping more funding to immigration operations without Democratic votes, by harnessing the party-line reconciliation process they used to enact their “big, beautiful” tax-cuts-focused bill last summer. Republicans pitched the strategy after Trump argued they should not take any deal unless it’s linked to the SAVE America Act, an elections bill that doesn’t have a path to passing the Senate.
Doing another party-line bill is facing early doubts from House and Senate Republicans, who are skeptical they will be able to marshal their narrow margins just months before the midterms.
In the meantime, and even if the reconciliation effort falls short, ICE and CBP can operate on what remains of the nearly $140 billion windfall they received under last year’s megabill — far more than the total of $28 billion the two agencies were previously set to receive for the current fiscal year.
Asked about pursuing another reconciliation bill for the immigration enforcement money, Thune said Friday that it is a “good possibility.”
Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) warned Democrats on Friday to “be careful what you wish for” and that “the filibuster cannot save you” from what Republicans plan to enact through reconciliation.
“What’s coming next will supercharge deportations,” Schmitt added.
The unexpected resolution came as senators grew increasingly eager to end the shutdown with both congressional chambers scheduled to leave town Friday for a two-week recess.
Senate Republicans said Thursday they had made what they called their “final” offer to Democrats — funding all of DHS except ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations but with additional language meant to assuage Democrats’ concerns. But optimism for an agreement quickly ran aground in the morass of legislative negotiating.
Schumer didn’t mention the spending discussions during his daily speech from the floor Thursday. And Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) said they weren’t presented with the latest GOP offer during Democrats’ closed-door lunch.
Hours later, Trump announced his unilateral move to pay TSA workers, short-circuiting any further talks.
Congress
Airports become political battlegrounds as DHS shutdown drags on
The six-week-old Department of Homeland Security shutdown is hinging not only on what lawmakers do in the Capitol, but on how they get there.
Members of Congress are some of America’s most frequent fliers, giving them an up-close look at the shutdown’s most dramatic impacts on Americans — the long airport security lines caused by TSA staffing shortages.
The juxtaposition of the elected jet-setters, who can take advantage of some unusual perks as they travel, with growing disruptions for everyday travelers has emerged as the most potent point of pressure as the standoff wears on.
“Generally, when elected officials have to suffer the consequences of their own inaction, it tends to provide a motive for action,” Rep. Kevin Kiley, a California independent, said Thursday.
President Donald Trump announced Thursday evening he would sign an executive order to pay TSA agents, but as prospects for a shutdown-ending deal ebbed and flowed in recent weeks, airports became politically fraught spaces for members.
Many have made clear they are waiting in lines alongside everyone else, some have proposed legislation to enshrine that principle and at least one partisan confrontation has taken place on airport property.
In a viral blow-up last week outside the airport in Austin, Texas, Democratic Rep. Greg Casar crashed an event where GOP Sen. John Cornyn was handing out hamburgers to TSA agents missing paychecks amid the funding lapse. Casar blasted Cornyn for opposing legislation that would fund TSA without providing funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“My experience at the airport speaking with TSA agents is that several that I’ve spoken with just want to see us pass a TSA-only bill and have our debate about ICE separately,” Casar said in an interview.
Cornyn then introduced legislation to end “special treatment” for members of Congress at airports by requiring that lawmakers use the same screening procedures as other travelers and banning federal funds from being used to give members expedited security screenings. The legislation passed the Senate unanimously but has not been taken up in the House.
“As many Americans probably don’t know … airports around the country allow Members of Congress to bypass the usual TSA security screening process at airports,” Cornyn said in a statement. “This should end today.”
The special security arrangements are just some of the air-travel privileges that lawmakers can enjoy. Lawmakers have been known to skip to the front of screening lines, and many take advantage of special security escorts as they move through airports.
Major airlines offer special reservation booking privileges to members of Congress and their staff, giving them direct lines with dedicated personnel devoted to handling the needs of 535 congressional offices. Some allow members to book multiple flights on the same day without penalty, giving them options in case a vote runs late or another delay arises.
Delta, the largest U.S. carrier, said Tuesday it was suspending airport escorts for lawmakers and assistance from special “red coat” agents in light of the ongoing shutdown. The airline’s dedicated “Capital Desk” reservations line remains open.
Even before the shutdown, airports have been political hazards for members of Congress. Most infamously, former Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) was arrested in a 2007 bathroom sex sting inside the Minneapolis airport, effectively ending his career. Former Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) and Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.) were both cited after trying to bring firearms through security checkpoints.
More recently, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) sparked a political firestorm after she was alleged to have verbally abused Charleston, South Carolina, airport workers in October after a mix-up involving her security escort. The widely publicized incident was seen as harming her campaign for governor.
The notion of lawmakers getting special air travel perks has gone viral in several instances in recent days as airport security lines have grown.
Proclaiming her support for Cornyn’s measure Thursday, Rep. Ashley Hinson of Iowa reposted a video showing old, pre-shutdown videos of Mace and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) being escorted through airports.
“Neither Republicans or Democrats should be skipping the line while constituents are facing 4+ hour waits across the country,” she said.
Virtually all of the more than 20 lawmakers Blue Light News interviewed Thursday about the airport chaos expressed sympathy for the unpaid agents, and many took pains to emphasize they had been inconvenienced alongside everyone else.
“My staff has been crushed. I got crushed a couple times. I got caught in the mess,” said Rep. Rich McCormick (R-Ga.), who frequently flies out of Atlanta, America’s busiest airport. “First time I walked in, I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, pandemonium.’”
Utah Republican Rep. Burgess Owens, who flies out of Salt Lake City, another Delta hub, said in an interview he does not use any special airline offerings for lawmakers and said he was glad those services are paused.
“Across the board, we should be living the same experience and pain that we give to other people,” he said.
“I don’t think we deserve any special perks,” added Rep. Nikki Budzinski (D-Ill.), who said the priority should be “making sure our constituents … can get through the line.”
There is, however, another point of bipartisan consensus — that the airport chaos is the other party’s fault.
“Democrats have proposed that we fund [TSA] fully,” Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) said, referring to bills that would provide standalone funding for the agency. “Trump just refuses to take the deal.”
Speaker Mike Johnson made the opposite case in a Fox News interview Thursday afternoon.
“If you’re waiting in line at the airport, it’s because Democrats are refusing to fund the government,” he said.
Oriana Pawlyk contributed to this report.
Congress
House Republicans huddle with Johnson to plot party-line package
A large contingent of House Republicans — encompassing hard-liners, Budget Committee members, panel chairs and party leaders — piled into Speaker Mike Johnson’s office Thursday afternoon to discuss a second party-line package, according to four people granted anonymity to share details of the private meeting.
Among the lawmakers attending were Budget Chair Jodey Arrington of Texas and Republican Study Committee Chair August Pfluger, also of Texas.
Reps. Chip Roy of Texas, Byron Donalds of Florida, Tom McClintock of California and Josh Brecheen of Oklahoma were also on hand, alongside Pennsylvania Reps. Lloyd Smucker and Scott Perry.
“We’re definitely preparing to move forward,” Johnson said in an interview as he left the meeting, regarding the House GOP Conference’s plans to pursue another bill through the filibuster-skirting budget reconciliation process. “We’re talking about more details. Lots of work going on.”
One of the biggest issues members are trying to work through at the moment is how to close the wide gap between Republicans in the House and Senate. Most House Republicans want a more expansive bill with myriad conservative policy priorities to ride alongside war and defense funding, while the Senate GOP is largely pushing for a more narrowly-focused measure, according to the four people.
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