A federal judge has put a sweeping Trump administration plan to uproot thousands of government employees on ice, warning it likely flouts Congress's authority.
U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria of the Northern District of California on Tuesday blocked the Department of Agriculture from closing offices and forcing employees to relocate while a lawsuit brought by federal-worker unions plays out. In a 40-page order, Chhabria found it "overwhelmingly likely that USDA's planned closures and relocations violate Congress's express restrictions on those activities."
The reorganization, announced in summer 2025 after President Donald Trump ordered a "critical transformation" of the federal government, would force thousands of USDA workers to choose between moving far from home, often to another state, or losing their jobs, according to the ruling.
Among the plans now on hold are moving the Forest Service's headquarters from Washington to Salt Lake City, shuttering all nine of its regional offices and closing every regional office of the Food and Nutrition Service, which runs SNAP and WIC. Up to 870 of the component's roughly 1,200 employees could be affected.
"Congress did not contemplate USDA using its appropriated funds to shut down offices or relocate employees," Chhabria wrote. "To the contrary, Congress was actively working to restrict the agency's ability to do so."
Both sides agreed that a provision letting the House and Senate Appropriations Committees sign off on exceptions is unconstitutional. The Trump administration argued that striking it left the agency with blanket permission to reorganize, but Chhabria found it "highly unlikely Congress would have wanted the statutes to operate that way."
The judge also pointed to risks for food aid that reaches 38 million low-income Americans each month and for wildfire prevention, writing that "there is no public interest in allowing the government to violate federal law."
He was unmoved by the Trump administration's warning about the cost of a pause. "Much of what USDA complains of amounts to self-inflicted harm caused by its decision to proceed with an unlawful reorganization effort," Chhabria wrote.
The Trump administration also asked that any relief cover only employees represented by the unions that sued. "That is wrong," Chhabria wrote, ordering the agency to halt its "reorganization expenditures, full stop."
Agency leadership has said in court filings that all current employees will have a position in the department and that it has no current plans for layoffs. USDA estimated last month that no more than 250 Forest Service employees would be relocated outside their commuting area.