MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) applauds U.S. District Judge Susan Illston’s decision to block the Trump administration from implementing any new or existing layoffs in relation to the current federal shutdown. These cuts have impacted over 4,000 civil servants across seven agencies and have been suggested by many experts as potentially illegal.
“We are now 15 days into the current government shutdown and the Trump administration continues to demonstrate its prioritization of political gamesmanship over what’s best for the nation, said LaShawn Warren, chief policy officer of SPLC. “The administration is exploiting the shutdown to carry out improper layoffs. It should not use essential and dedicated federal employees as a negotiation tactic.”
The effects of the recent shutdown layoffs have rippled throughout the Deep South, most notably with the notices received by employees at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta. While roughly 700 of those layoff notices were rescinded by what officials noted as a “coding error,” 600 terminations remain in effect, which represents nearly a quarter of the agency’s workforce. These cuts affect not only the livelihoods of families in the Atlanta area, but all American due to strain across health agencies that are operating without necessary appropriations to continue their work.
“Weaponizing the employment of civil servants as a means of dictating negotiations to settle a government shutdown is a reprehensible way to conduct the business of this nation,” Warren added. “We are watching institutional destabilization occur in real time because this administration does not believe the law applies to them.”
The Southern Poverty Law Center agrees with Judge Illston that these layoffs are taking a human toll that cannot be tolerated and will continue to stand in solidarity with the affected civil servants who rise each day to place country over party.
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About the Southern Poverty Law Center
The Southern Poverty Law Center is a catalyst for racial justice in the South and beyond, working in partnership with communities to dismantle white supremacy, strengthen intersectional movements, and advance the human rights of all people. For more information, visit www.splcenter.org.