"You've admitted there are no rules," Trump suffers setback from US court; ruling stayed

In a sensational ruling in the US, San Francisco federal judge Susan Illston on Wednesday temporarily halted the Trump administration's planned layoffs of thousands of federal employees during the government shutdown.

The order came in response to a lawsuit filed by labor unions claiming the layoffs were illegal. The move came after the White House announced its intention to lay off at least 10,000 employees amid the shutdown.

During the hearing, Judge Illston expressed concern that the White House's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and Office of Personnel Management (OPM) were taking advantage of the shutdown to ignore the law. She said the government seemed to have assumed that no rules apply during a shutdown.

What has the White House said?

White House OMB chief Russ Vought said in an interview, "We will likely lay off over 10,000 employees. We want to be very aggressive in shutting down the bureaucracy."

President Donald Trump had threatened to launch mass layoffs, particularly targeting employees perceived to be aligned with Democrats, if Democrats did not support a House-passed government funding proposal by the end of November.

"These layoffs violate rights"

Judge Illston's order is a major blow to the Trump administration, which was using the shutdown to implement its policies. Labor unions argue that these layoffs are not only illegal but also violate the rights of government employees.

The shutdown has already left millions of government employees working without pay or sitting at home. Meanwhile, the political tug-of-war between Trump and Democrats has further complicated the situation.