Federal employee unions asked a federal judge in California on Tuesday to stop the Trump administration from using plans for a mass firing of federal employees if there is a partial government shutdown.

The complaint , filed Tuesday by the American Federation of Government Employees and American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and local affiliates in San Francisco, focuses on an Office of Management and Budget memorandum and updated guidance that purports to authorize work on reductions in force during a shutdown.

The unions argue the administration’s threats violate federal law and are a “cynical use of federal employees as a pawn in Congressional deliberations.”

The OMB memo told agency heads they should consider reduction-in-force or “RIF” notices in cases where

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