Turley: Justice Jackson shows ‘judicial abandon’ in lone dissent on Trump layoff ruling

Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson stood alone in dissent as the high court voted 8-1 to allow the Trump administration’s planned mass layoffs in the federal government to move forward.

Her scathing rebuke against lifting a lower court’s injunction temporarily blocking the cuts drew sharp reactions, including from Fox News contributor and George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley.

"This is another shot across the bow to lower courts," Turley said on "Fox & Friends" Wednesday. "They’ve got to knock this off. They've got to stop with these injunctions."

The layoffs are part of the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency agenda and the White House’s larger effort to downsize the federal government. 

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Justices of the US Supreme Court pose for their official photo at the Supreme Court in Washington, DC on October 7, 2022 (OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images)

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In February, federal agencies were warned to prepare for large-scale job cuts. Later that month, a memo circulated calling the current federal workforce "costly, inefficient, and deeply in debt." 

Critics of the plan argued it could result in thousands of job losses and damage essential public services. Advocacy groups filed legal challenges and a lower court issued a temporary block on the layoffs, a move the Supreme Court has now reversed. 

Justice Jackson issued a biting dissent to the court’s intervention. 

"For some reason, this Court sees fit to step in now and release the President’s wrecking ball at the outset of this litigation," she wrote. "In my view, this decision is not only truly unfortunate but also hubristic and senseless."

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Turley noted that disagreements among the liberal justices aren’t new, but Jackson’s solo dissent stands out.

"On this occasion, Jackson is alone," he said. "She couldn’t even get Justice Sotomayor to sign on to this dissent."

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While none of the liberal justices joined Jackson’s dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor did not endorse the Trump administration’s plan. She argued the court should wait to evaluate the layoffs when they are formally presented. Sotomayor agreed the case should move forward, so lower courts can decide first if the eventual layoffs break any laws set by Congress.

Turley said the court’s ruling sends a strong message to lower courts that delays to the Trump administration’s plans not firmly grounded in legal standing won’t be tolerated.

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"This is six months of delay. It could have been much longer," he said. "The court is signaling, ‘We’re going to be on you very quickly if you continue to do these kinds of orders.’"

U.S. President Donald Trump answers questions during a press conference on recent Supreme Court rulings in the briefing room at the White House on June 27, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

He added that the dissent from Jackson is part of a larger pattern in her judicial style. 

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"This is part of a signature of what's becoming a type of judicial abandon that Jackson has towards the power of these courts," Turley said.