The Supreme Court on Tuesday paused an order by a lower-court judge requiring the Trump administration to rehire about 16,000 fired probationary employees, at least a temporary victory for the president’s efforts to radically downsize the government and dismantle some agencies.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup ruled last month that the government’s human resource agency, the Office of Personnel Management, had no legal authority to direct mass firings at the departments of Agriculture, Defense, Energy, Interior, Treasury and Veterans Affairs.