A federal judge in San Francisco on Tuesday indefinitely barred the Trump administration from firing federal employees during the government shutdown, saying that labor unions were likely to prevail on their claims that the cuts were arbitrary and politically motivated.

A federal judge blocked the Trump administration, for now, from firing federal workers during the ongoing government shutdown. The order came five days after the administration issued reduction-in-force notifications to more than 4,000 federal workers.

SAN FRANCISCO -- President Donald Trump's administration for now must stop firing workers during the government shutdown, a federal judge in San Francisco ordered on Wednesday. U.S. District Judge Susan Illston issued the emergency order after federal ...