«Does this all sound vaguely illegal? Yes. Reductions-in-Force have their own legal basis, which does not include mass layoffs because of budget disagreements. But neither the Supreme Court nor the White House seem too bothered by legal niceties when it comes to assaults on the administrative state.

Indeed, the Supreme Court has largely sided with the hostage takers. A consistent pattern has emerged. The Trump administration does something illegal, lower courts try to stop it, the Trump administration asks the Supreme Court to bless their illegality, and the Court duly obliges with hastily written emergency orders.»

https://donmoynihan.substack.com/p/shutdown-hostage-taking