The White House had sought an emergency stay of an injunction issued by U.S. Judge Susan Illston of San Francisco in a lawsuit brought by labor unions and cities, including San Francisco and Chicago.

An appeals court on Friday refused to freeze a California-based judge’s order halting the Trump administration from downsizing the federal workforce, which means that the Department of Government Efficiency-led cuts remain on pause for now.

President Donald Trump’s directives for mass firings at multiple agencies will remain on hold, a federal appeals court ruled Friday evening