Another federal judge has just blocked President Trump from firing workers across 21 different department and agencies across the government.

Judge Susan Illston, a Bill Clinton appointee, says Trump has to work with Congress to make these reductions in force and cannot do it alone.

Here’s the news from NBC:

A federal judge in California on Friday temporarily blocked plans for reductions-in-force and reorganization at 21 departments and agencies across the federal government, a significant setback as the Trump administration works to downsize.

“The President has the authority to seek changes to executive branch agencies, but he must do so in lawful ways and, in the case of large-scale reorganizations, with the cooperation of the legislative branch,” Judge Susan Illston wrote in her order after hearing arguments on the issue earlier in the day.

“Many presidents have sought this cooperation before; many iterations of Congress have provided it. Nothing prevents the President from requesting this cooperation—as he did in his prior term of office. Indeed, the Court holds the President likely must request Congressional cooperation to order the changes he seeks, and thus issues a temporary restraining order to pause large-scale reductions in force in the meantime,” she wrote.

The temporary restraining order, in effect for two weeks, puts the president’s “Department of Government Efficiency” Workforce Optimization Initiative on hold for 21 departments and agencies. The order also includes memos issued to the same effect by the Office of Personnel Management and DOGE.

The departments and agencies blocked from instituting reductions-in-force or reorganizations include DOGE, the Office of Management and Budget, the Office of Personnel Management, and the Departments of Housing and Urban Development, Interior and Transportation.

I think this ruling will be overturned as the federal government’s appeal goes up the judicial ladder, as we’ve seen other rulings overturned that tried to block Trump from firing people and ending agencies.