Washington: A federal judge who blocked President Donald Trump's administration from dismantling the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ruled Friday that the bureau can’t go forward immediately with plans to mass fire hundreds of employees.

U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson said she is “deeply concerned” that Trump administration officials aren’t complying with her earlier order that maintains the bureau’s existence until she rules on the merits of a lawsuit seeking to preserve it.

During a hearing, Jackson said she will bar officials from carrying out any mass firings or cutting off employees’ access to bureau computer systems on Friday.

Jackson scheduled a hearing on April 28 to hear testimony from officials who were working on the reduction in force, or RIF, procedures.

“I’m willing to resolve it quickly, but I’m not going to let this RIF go forward until I have,” she said.

Roughly 1,500 employees are slated to be cut, leaving around 200 people.

Trump, a Republican, has sought to reshape the federal government, saying it's rife with fraud, waste and abuse. Conservatives and businesses have often chafed at the bureau’s oversight and investigations, and Trump adviser Elon Musk made it a top target of his Department of Government Efficiency.

AP