President Donald Trump signed an executive order in February which instructed the heads of federal agencies to prepare for  "large-scale reductions in force."

While Trump's effort to shrink the size of government was initially blocked by lower courts, the Supreme Court is allowing his plan to go ahead. 

District judge: Trump needs "the cooperation of the legislative branch"

According to NPR, that move came in the form of an unsigned decision which America's highest judicial body released on Tuesday.

In May, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston issued an injunction which temporarily prevented the president from instituting mass layoffs while the matter is being litigated.

"The President has the authority to seek changes to executive branch agencies, but he must do so in lawful ways and, in the case of large-scale reorganizations, with the cooperation of the legislative branch," Fox News quoted Illston as writing.

"Many presidents have sought this cooperation before; many iterations of Congress have provided it," the federal judge insisted.

NPR pointed out how although Illston ruling was subsequently affirmed by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court has overturned. Nevertheless, the justices did not address the case's underlying issues.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson slams decision as "hubristic and senseless"

While Justice Sonia Sotomayor concurred with the majority's opinion, she made a point of stressing that lower courts are permitted to adjudicate whether Trump's plan is constitutional.

"The plans themselves are not before this Court, at this stage, and we thus have no occasion to consider whether they can and will be carried out consistent with the constraints of law," she wrote.

In contrast, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson authored a dissent in which she criticized her colleagues for allowing the president to proceed even though his actions may ultimately be judged as unlawful.

"For some reason, this Court sees fit to step in now and release the President's wrecking ball at the outset of this litigation," Jackson complained.

White House spokesman calls ruling "another definitive victory"

"In my view, this decision is not only truly unfortunate but also hubristic and senseless," the Biden appointee went on to add.

Harrison Fields serves as a White House spokesman, and NPR noted that he hailed Tuesday's decision as "another definitive victory for the President and his administration."

"It clearly rebukes the continued assaults on the President's constitutionally authorized executive powers by leftist judges who are trying to prevent the President from achieving government efficiency across the federal government," he stressed.