Former President Donald Trump’s administration has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a lower court ruling that blocked sweeping federal job cuts and agency restructuring—key parts of Trump’s plan to reduce the size of the federal government, according to Reuters.

The request, filed Monday by the Justice Department, follows a May 22 decision by U.S. District Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco. In that ruling, Illston sided with a coalition of labor unions, non-profit organizations, and local governments that challenged the administration’s move to implement large-scale layoffs—formally known as “reductions in force”—across multiple federal agencies.

Agencies affected by the proposed cuts include the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Health and Human Services, State, Treasury, and Veterans Affairs, among others.

In its appeal, the Justice Department argued that managing federal personnel falls squarely within the president’s constitutional authority over the executive branch.

“The Constitution does not presume against presidential control of agency staffing,” the filing stated. “The president does not need special permission from Congress to exercise core Article II powers.”

The Supreme Court has given the plaintiffs until June 9 to respond to the administration’s request.

The legal challenge stems from Trump’s February directive ordering federal agencies to prepare for large-scale staff reductions as part of broader government restructuring efforts. But Judge Illston ruled that the president had overstepped his authority, noting that only Congress can grant the power to significantly reshape federal agencies.

“As history demonstrates, the president may broadly restructure federal agencies only when authorized by Congress,” Illston wrote.

Earlier, on May 9, Illston temporarily blocked around 20 federal agencies from conducting mass layoffs and ordered the reinstatement of employees who had already been terminated. Her May 22 ruling extended much of that relief.

On May 30, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied the Trump administration’s attempt to pause Illston’s order. In a 2–1 decision, the court said the administration had failed to show it would face irreparable harm if the ruling stood and concluded that the plaintiffs were likely to succeed in their lawsuit.

“The executive order at issue here far exceeds the president’s supervisory powers under the Constitution,” the court wrote, calling the move “an unprecedented attempted restructuring of the federal government and its operations.”

Since returning to office in January, Trump’s administration has increasingly turned to the Supreme Court after lower courts blocked several of its key initiatives.