The order landed like a thunderclap. In a few spare sentences, nine justices froze the fate of more than 16,000 livelihoods — and handed Donald Trump a critical reprieve. No hearings, no sweeping opinion, just a shadow‑docket decision that sent a brutal signal to federal workers and political strategists alike. What followed in Washington’s back rooms wasn’t calm, but a scramble: campaign lawyers poring over precedents at 2 a.m., union reps fielding panicked calls, and families refreshing case dockets like weather radar. The Court hadn’t just paused a rehiring order; it had quietly rewritten the tempo of an entire presidency. And as the next wave of cases loomed — on money, maps, and the machinery of democracy itself — one chilling question hung in the air, unans…

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