Trump sanctions International Criminal Court - as judge halts plan to slash federal workforce

Donald Trump has sanctioned the International Criminal Court (ICC) as a judge has halted his plan to slash the federal workforce.

In his latest round of executive orders, the new US president has taken aim at the ICC and rallied against what he called anti-Christian bias.

It comes as a federal judge has temporarily blocked Mr Trump's plan to reduce the number of government employees.

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The ICC order includes financial and travel sanctions against the organisation and its officials, and family members, who are found to have assisted in investigations into US citizens and allies, Sky News' US partner NBC News reported.

The move coincides with a visit to Washington by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who, along with his former defence minister and a leader of Hamas, is wanted by the ICC over the war in Gaza.

It was unclear how quickly the US would announce the names of those sanctioned.

In Mr Trump's first term, he imposed sanctions on then-prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and one of her top aides over the ICC's investigation into alleged war crimes by American troops in Afghanistan.

'Anti-Christian bias'

A second executive order signed on Thursday targeted "eradicating anti-Christian bias" in the federal government.

The order will aim to "work tirelessly to uphold" religious freedom and attorney general Pam Bondi will lead a specific task force to achieve its aims.

"The mission of this task force will be to immediately halt all forms of anti-Christian targeting and discrimination within
the federal government, including at the DOJ, which was absolutely terrible, the IRS, the FBI and other agencies," Mr Trump said on Thursday morning.

'Fork in the road'

Meanwhile, a judge ruled just hours before the midnight deadline for workers to apply for the "fork in the road" deferred resignation programme - which has been orchestrated by close Trump ally Elon Musk - that it should be temporarily halted.

US district judge George O'Toole Jr, in Boston, did not express an opinion on the legality of the programme but scheduled a hearing for Monday.

He also directed administration officials to extend the deadline for the programme until after the hearing.

Mr O'Toole could opt to delay the scheme further or block it on a more permanent basis when he considers the legal challenge from unions on Monday.

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The offer promises to pay employees their salaries until 30 September - but current spending laws expire on 14 March and it isn't clear whether salaries will be funded beyond this point.

The worker buyout scheme is part of a broader move from Mr Trump's administration to shrink and reshape the federal government. An important aspect of that has been Mr Musk's Department of Government Efficiency.

White House reaction to judge's ruling

Responding to the development, press secretary Karoline Leavitt told NBC News: "We are grateful to the judge for extending the deadline so more federal workers who refuse to show up to the office can take the administration up on this very generous, once-in-a-lifetime offer."

She also said that more than 40,000 people had accepted the buyout so far - this figure corresponds to around 2% of the federal government's 2.3 million civilian workforce.

NBC News reported this figure to be higher, at 60,000, citing a senior administration official.

Around 6% of federal workers retire or resign in a normal year, according to the Partnership for Public Service.

'Offer not trustworthy'

Labour unions and opposing Democrats have said the offer is not trustworthy.

The buyout covers not just employees at domestic agencies, like the Environmental Protection Agency, but intelligence agencies like the CIA as well.

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Legality concerns over Trump plans

The administration also warned those who do not accept the buyout could still lose their jobs.

This is the latest of Mr Trump's efforts to be blocked by a judge over concerns of legality.

Mr Trump's plan to block birthright US citizenship has been blocked by a second federal judge in two days.

(c) Sky News 2025: Trump sanctions International Criminal Court - as judge halts plan to slash federal workforce