The Trump Administration must temporarily cease from implementing widespread layoffs of government workers across federal agencies, Judge Susan Illston for the U.S. Court for the Northern District of California ruled late Friday.

Illston instituted a 14-day pause on “reductions in force” (RIF) until May 23.

Illston said the plaintiffs in the case—including the American Federation of Government Employees—are likely to succeed on the merits of the case because “the president has neither constitutional nor, at this time, statutory authority to reorganize the executive branch.” 

Illston says she granted the temporary restraining order so as to “protect the power of the legislative branch.”

“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 in her order issued Friday. “Many presidents have sought this cooperation before; many iterations of Congress have provided it.”

As reported by Food Safety Magazine on April 29, some fired food safety scientists at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and terminated FDA food safety labs were being reinstated, as well as several inspectoral support staff members.