Trump Administration Lays Off 4,000 Federal Workers As Government Shutdown Drags On
The Trump administration revealed in a late-Friday court filing that the White House has begun laying off more than 4,000 federal employees as the government shutdown entered its 10th day. Unlike standard temporary furloughs, these moves are permanent layoffs. The decision has infuriated Democrats, who called it politically motivated and “illegal,” while conservatives praised it as a long-promised effort to trim the bloated federal bureaucracy (continued DOGE-related efforts).
The filing by the White House was in response to a lawsuit over the shutdown layoffs from the left-wing American Federation of Government Employees and the AFL-CIO.
Reduction-in-force notices were sent to federal workers across seven departments, with the Treasury Department and the Department of Health and Human Services being the most impacted, according to the filing.
Earlier on Friday, White House budget director Russ Vought wrote on X that “RIFs have begun.” RIFs are short for reduction in force.
Late Friday, President Trump told reporters, “It’ll be a lot and it’ll be Democrat-oriented because we figure they started this thing… It’ll be a lot of people — all because of the Democrats.” The president was referring to the number of federal workers who would be cut from the bloated federal government.
Late Friday, a senior administration official told NBC News, “those RIFs are a snapshot in time and represent only where things were at the time of the court filing,” suggesting the situation remains fluid.
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The White House has begun laying off a “substantial” number of government employees, OMB Director Russ Vought announced Friday on X.
“The RIFs have begun,” Vought wrote, referring to reduction-in-force plans.
“Can confirm RIFs have begun and they are substantial,” an OMB spokesperson told POLITICO, adding “These are RIFs not furloughs.”
The news comes on the 10th day of the government shutdown after Senate Democrats insisted on maintaining Obama-era benefits that include illegal immigrants, and both sides of the aisle have repeatedly failed to pass subsequent packages to fund the government.
According to the report, the layoffs have hit agencies including: Interior, Homeland Security, Treasury, EPA, Commerce, Education, Energy, HHS and HUD.
On Thursday, Trump said his administration would target programs backed by Democrats – saying during a cabinet meeting: “We’re only cutting Democrat programs, I hate to tell you, but we are cutting Democrat programs,” adding “We will be cutting some very popular Democrat programs that aren’t popular with Republicans, frankly.”
The move follows an OMB memo leaked two weeks ago which ordered Trump administration officials to prepare to carry out reduction-in-force (RIF) plans during the shutdown, targeting employees that aren’t legally required – OR, those which conflict with Trump’s priorities.
Democrats are of course freaking out.
“We believe that they are not only unethical and immoral but illegal for him to be RIFing people in a shutdown,” said Rep. Sarah Elfreth (D-MD) on Friday.
The cuts also come hours ahead of a court deadline for the DOJ to file a report detailing any plans to terminate workers during the shutdown – ahead of an Oct. 16 hearing on a request by federal worker unions to block layoffs.
Over 2/3 of civilian federal employees have remained on the job during the shutdown, between essential workers or jobs that receive longer-term funding. The vast majority of employees are going without pay.
