The Trump administration can proceed with its dismantling of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a federal appeals court ruled on Friday, allowing the agency to move forward with widespread layoffs expected to impact virtually its entire workforce.

A divided federal appeals court is allowing President Donald Trump to downsize the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau at this time, siding with the administration on its plans to reshape federal government agencies and its employees.

The showdown in Washington is the latest attempt by Trump to test the boundaries of his legal authority to carry out his tough-on-crime agenda, relying on obscure statutes and a supposed state of emergency to speed up the mass deportation of people in the United States illegally.

Alec Baldwin reacted with alarm to President Donald Trump’s federal takeover of the Washington, D.C., police department and his deployment of troops to the city — saying they are examples of Trump’s “insane moves” to “deflect from his inadequacy.