WASHINGTON — 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 there’s no other funding mechanism and the activity they work on is “not consistent with the President’s priorities.”

The union lawsuit also challenges guidance from OMB that federal employees could work during the shutdown to effectuate these RIFs. The complaint contends that federal law only allows agencies to carry out the bare minimum to protect life and property or carry out other statutory duties, not the extra work involved in firing federal employees.

The unions argued the OMB went beyond what federal law allows and prior shutdowns have resulted in furloughed, not fired, federal employees.

“Despite this well-established practice, the Trump administration has made unlawful threats to dismantle essential federal services and functions provided by federal personnel, deviating from historic practice and violating applicable laws, if a shutdown occurs,” the lawsuit said.

AFGE National President Everett Kelley and other union representatives, in announcing the lawsuit, issued a statement that criticized the Trump administration for using federal workers as bargaining chips.

“Announcing plans to fire potentially tens of thousands of federal employees simply because Congress and the administration are at odds on funding the government past the end of the fiscal year is not only illegal – it’s immoral and unconscionable,” Kelley said.

The complaint asked the court to set aside both the OMB memorandum and Office of Personnel Management guidance on RIFs.

The threats to fire federal employees has surfaced repeatedly in recent days, including by President Donald Trump himself. On Tuesday in remarks at the White House, Trump praised the work of OMB Director Russ Vought.

“We can do things during the shutdown that are irreversible, that are bad for them and irreversible by them, like cutting vast numbers of people out, cutting things that they like, cutting programs that they like,” Trump said in remarks that were quoted in the complaint.

The lawsuit came hours ahead of the government funding deadline, as Republicans and Democrats have sparred over whether to include health care measures in a bill to fund the government through November.

The case is American Federation of Government Employees et al. v. United States Office of Management and Budget et al.

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