By Tierney Sneed, CNN

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

The Trump administration had asked the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to freeze a lower court’s order that halted the terminations at more than a dozen agencies.

The new order is a major setback for Trump in his efforts to drastically shrink the federal government . His plans for the sweeping layoffs – known as reductions in force, or RIFs – have been on hold since May 9, after US District Judge Susan Illston ruled that Trump could not do such a dramatic overhaul of federal agencies without congressional authorization.

In its 2-1 opinion, the 9th Circuit panel said the Trump executive order at issue in the ca

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