The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday cleared the way for Donald Trump's administration to pursue mass government job cuts and the sweeping downsizing of numerous agencies, a decision that could lead to tens of thousands of layoffs while dramatically reshaping the federal bureaucracy.

The Supreme Court's conservatives said it was a federal judge in San Francisco, not President Trump, who exceeded her authority.

The ruling could usher in a more professionalized round of layoffs, compared to the erratic rush of firings carried out by Elon Musk's U.S. DOGE Service.