Last Friday, May 9, Western Watersheds Project and our union, city government, and non-government organization allies won a court order blocking Donald Trump, Elon Musk, DOGE, and other federal agencies from moving forward with a scheme to gut federal agencies by using Reductions in Force (RIFs) to eliminate federal jobs. We rose to the defense of federal agencies because we perceived that the administration was undertaking an effort to undermine environmental regulations and thwart responsible land management across the West.
It is a sweeping victory, blocking—at least temporarily—an overhaul of federal agencies in the name of deregulation, energy dominance, and ultimately the selloff of western public lands.
In her ruling, the judge castigated the Trump administration for undermining the Constitution’s checks and balances – it is Congress, not the Executive Branch, that creates and eliminates government agencies and determines their staffing levels through budget appropriations. The judge also ordered the administration to produce for court review its secret blueprints, called “Agency RIF and Reorganization Plans.”
The judge ordered that the president, Elon Musk, DOGE, and several other agencies cease their efforts to gut federal agencies, including Bureau of Land Management U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, and Forest Service, and to not order any further RIFs for employees. The Temporary Restraining Order lasts for 14 days, and there is a hearing set for May 22nd in our case, where the judge will consider whether to extend the moratorium indefinitely through a Preliminary Injunction.
Attorneys on the case include Democracy Forward and Altshuler Berzon LLP, as well as Protect Democracy, Public Rights Project, and Democracy Defenders Fund. Our co-plaintiffs include the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) and four AFGE locals; American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME); Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and SEIU Local 1000; Alliance for Retired Americans; American Geophysical Union; American Public Health Association; Center for Taxpayer Rights; Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks; Common Defense; Main Street Alliance; NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council); Northeast Organic Farming Association Inc.; VoteVets; City and County of San Francisco, California; County of Santa Clara, California; City of Chicago, Illinois; City of Baltimore, Maryland; Harris County, Texas; and King County, Washington.
We’re proud to be allies in this important fight.
The WWP Team
