Judge puts temporary pause on Trump's mass layoffs at government agencies

A judge issued a temporary pause on the Trump administration’s plans to restructure government agencies and cut tens of thousands of federal workers.

Illston said Trump may broadly restructure federal agencies, but only in "lawful ways" with approval from Congress.

"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," Illston said. "Many presidents have sought this cooperation before; many iterations of Congress have provided it."