In Case 3:25-cv-03698-SI, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California issued an order on July 9, 2025, addressing a discovery dispute in the lawsuit American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO, et al. v. Donald J. Trump, et al. The Supreme Court had previously stayed the district court’s injunction, which had paused large-scale reductions in force (RIFs) at federal agencies. The plaintiffs requested resolution of whether the government could withhold “Agency RIF and Reorganization Plans” (ARRPs) under the deliberative process privilege.
The court, after reviewing ARRPs from four agencies and the government’s proposed redactions, determined that the final ARRPs for the 17 agencies (involved in approximately 40 RIFs) referenced in the Supreme Court stay application are likely not protected by the deliberative process privilege, as they are not pre-decisional or deliberative. The court also found the plaintiffs’ arguments about the qualified nature of the privilege persuasive.
The court ordered the defendants to respond to the plaintiffs’ filing (Dkt. No. 176) by 3:00 p.m. PDT on July 14, 2025, and to provide a list of the 40 RIFs across 17 agencies. Defendants were encouraged to propose a more workable or narrowly tailored disclosure of the ARRPs, as the court was not inclined to accept the near-total redactions proposed by the government.
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69961059/177/american-federation-of-government-employees-afl-cio-v-trump/
