By Daniel Wiessner

(Reuters) -A federal judge on Tuesday extended a block preventing President Donald Trump’s administration from laying off thousands of federal employees amid a nearly month-long partial government shutdown.

During a hearing in San Francisco, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston extended an earlier temporary ruling barring nearly 40 federal agencies from implementing layoffs pending the outcome of a legal challenge by unions that represent federal workers.

About 4,100 employees at eight agencies had been notified that they were being laid off before Illston’s October 16 ruling, the Trump administration said in court filings. White House Budget Director Russell Vought has said that more than 10,000 federal workers could lose their jobs because of the shutdown.

Illston’s d

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