USDA says SNAP benefits won't be issued on Nov. 1

U.S. District Judge Susan Illston issued an emergency order Wednesday blocking the Trump administration's mass firings, the union representing the thousands of federal workers said.

Illston said the administration was acting without thinking through its decisions, The Associated Press reported.

"It's very much ready, fire, aim on most of these programs, and it has a human cost," she said. It's a human cost that cannot be tolerated."

A group of unions, including the American Federation of Government Employees, sued the administration and asked for a temporary restraining order, contending the firings were illegal.

“This decision affirms that these threatened mass firings are likely illegal and blocks layoff notices from going out,” said AFSCME President Lee Saunders said in a statement.

“Federal workers have already faced enough uncertainty from the administration’s relentless attacks on the important jobs they do to keep us safe and healthy. They deserve respect for the work they do -- not to be treated as political pawns by the billionaires running this administration who see workers as expendable," Saunders added.

The Senate once again failed to advance a funding bill that would have reopened the government until Nov. 21 by a vote of 51-44 on Wednesday. It would have needed 60 votes to advance.

This is the ninth time this bill has failed to advance.

As has been the case in past votes, Sen. Rand Paul was the only Republican to vote against the bill. Democratic Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto, John Fetterman, and Independent Angus King (who caucuses with Democrats) remained the only three to buck their party and vote in favor of the bill.

There are no measurable signs of progress.

This is the last vote on government funding that is expected to occur on Wednesday. The shutdown will therefore continue until at least Thursday.

ABC News' Allison Pecorin

Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought said Wednesday in an interview with "The Charlie Kirk" show that he expects "more than 10,000" federal workers to be cut while the government remains closed.

"We're definitely talking thousands of people. Much of the reporting has been based on, kind of court snapshots, which they've articulated," Vought went on, referencing OMB's court filings in a labor union-led lawsuit against the Trump administration's cuts.

"But that's just a snapshot, and I think it'll get much higher. And we're going to keep those RIFs rolling throughout the shutdown, because we think it's important to stay on offense for the American taxpayer and the American people," Vought, the co-author of Project 2025, added.

When asked about what agencies and programs might be, or have been, cut during the shutdown, Vought said "Green New Deal programs at the Department of Energy," the "Minority Business Development Agency at Commerce – that divvies up business grants on the basis of race," he went on: "environmental justice at EPA," and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).

-ABC News' Isabella Murray

House Speaker Mike Johnson and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries accepted an invitation to appear on C-SPAN together though a date is not yet finalized, according to a release from C-SPAN.

"C-SPAN looks forward to providing a forum for a smart, civil, respectful exchange of ideas between both leaders," according to a post on X. C-SPAN said it is working with both offices on scheduling the joint appearance.

This rare appearance will occur on C-SPAN’s "Ceasefire" program, which is hosted by Politico's Dasha Burns. It comes after Johnson joined C-SPAN last week to take phone calls from people across the country impacted by the government shutdown, including a military mom who had begged him to pass a standalone bill to pay the troops.

-ABC News' Lauren Peller