The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday cleared the way for Donald Trump's administration to pursue mass government job cuts and the sweeping downsizing of numerous agencies, a decision that could lead to tens of thousands of layoffs while dramatically reshaping the federal bureaucracy.

The Supreme Court's conservatives said it was a federal judge in San Francisco, not President Trump, who exceeded her authority.

The administration argues that the president does not need additional authorization from Congress to conduct agency-wide layoffs. Attorney General Pam Bondi praised the Supreme Court’s order, saying it “stopped lawless lower courts from restricting President Trump’s authority over federal personnel.”