WASHINGTON - PresidentDonald Trump's administration asked theSupreme Courtto lift a federal judge's order to halt large-scale staffing cuts and the restructuring of agencies, part of his campaign todownsize and reshape the federal government. The Justice Department's May 16 request came after U.S. District Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco blocked large-scale federal layoffs known as "reductions in force" for 14 days in a May 9 ruling siding with a group of unions, non-profits and local governments that challenged the administration. "That far-reaching order bars almost the entire executive branch from formulating and implementing plans to reduce the size of the federal workforce, and requires disclosure of sensitive and deliberative agency documents that are presumptively protected by executive privilege," the department wrote in its filing. It added that the judicial order "does all of that based on the extraordinary view that the president lacks authority to direct executive agencies how to exercise their statutory powers to conduct large-scale personnel actions within the executive branch," the department added. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Federal government layoffs: Trump appeals to Supreme Court
