• A federal judge has temporarily blocked layoffs of thousands of federal workers during the government shutdown.
• Judge Susan Illston cited political motivations and human costs in her ruling against the Trump administration's actions.
• The decision follows requests from unions representing federal employees, which claimed the layoffs are illegal.
• The government shutdown has now lasted over two weeks, raising concerns about the impact on public services.
• The legal order protects jobs in various federal agencies while the shutdown continues and a longer-term resolution is sought.

A federal judge in San Francisco has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from proceeding with mass layoffs affecting thousands of federal workers during the ongoing government shutdown. U.S. District Judge Susan Illston issued this ruling after concluding that the administration's layoffs appeared politically motivated and were being executed without proper consideration of their implications, emphasizing that "it’s very much ready, fire, aim on most of these programs, and it has a human cost that cannot be tolerated," according to NPR and HuffPost.

Judge Illston's ruling was prompted by a lawsuit filed by the American Federation of Government Employees and other labor unions, which argued that the layoff notices issued to over 4,000 employees across several federal agencies were both illegal and excessive, as they lacked proper justification during the funding lapse initiated on October 1. The judge expressed skepticism about claims from the administration that these layoffs served a legitimate purpose, stating that they illustrate an "illegal abuse of power designed to punish patriotic civil servants," according to BBC and Los Angeles Times.

During the court hearing, Illston articulated her concerns regarding the political nature of the layoffs, pointing to President Trump's comments that implied targeting "Democrat-sponsored programs." Furthermore, she highlighted inconsistencies in the administration's provided figures regarding the extent of the layoffs, labeling their approach as "arbitrary and capricious," as noted in Al Jazeera and Channel News Asia.

The American Federation of Government Employees expressed that the layoffs posed significant emotional and financial harm to workers who had received layoff notifications, with many employees suffering from a lack of communication and support during the shutdown. Illston's order provides employees with a temporary reprieve as the longer legal battle continues, reaffirming that federal workers cannot be subjected to politically motivated terminations even amidst a government shutdown, according to CBS News and India Times.

As the government shutdown extends into its third week, Republican and Democratic lawmakers remain entrenched in negotiations. Republicans have signaled opposition to continuing discussions until Democrats agree to pause their demands regarding healthcare provisions associated with any funding deal, resulting in ongoing uncertainty for federal employees across the nation, as highlighted in sources like SFGate and South China Morning Post.