Layoffs Underway as Shutdown Drags On
The Trump administration has begun the process of laying off federal employees amid the ongoing government shutdown.
The Trump administration has been threatening that layoffs of federal employees would take place if a government shutdown ensued and continued for more than a few days. Apparently they were serious.
White House Office of Management (OMB) and Budget Director Russell Vought posted on X today, “The RIFs have begun.”
Just before the government shutdown began, OMB issued a memo directing agencies to prepare reduction in force (RIF) plans in the event of a shutdown. The memo stated:
With respect to those Federal programs whose funding would lapse and which are otherwise unfunded, such programs are no longer statutorily required to be carried out. Therefore, consistent with applicable law, including the requirements of 5 C.F.R. part 351, agencies are directed to use this opportunity to consider Reduction in Force (RIF) notices for all employees in programs, projects, or activities (PPAs) that satisfy all three of the following conditions: (1) discretionary funding lapses on October 1, 2025; (2) another source of funding, such as H.R. 1 (Public Law 119-21) is not currently available; and (3) the PPA is not consistent with the President’s priorities. RIF notices will be in addition to any furlough notices provided due to the lapse in appropriation.
RIF notices should be issued to all employees working on the relevant PPA, regardless of whether the employee is excepted or furloughed during the lapse in appropriations.
Shortly thereafter, the Office of Personnel Management updated its guidance on shutdown furloughs. The most notable change was that it said that agencies can conduct RIFs during a government shutdown.
A Q&A from the guidance document said:
Can an agency run a RIF during a shutdown furlough? If so, can an agency issue RIF notices during the period of orderly shutdown before a shutdown furlough?
A. Yes, an agency can run a RIF and may issue RIF notices (prepared in accordance with the requirements in 5 CFR part 351, subpart H) when preparing for a shutdown furlough. OMB has determined that agencies are authorized to direct employees to perform work necessary to administer the RIF process during the lapse in appropriations as excepted activities.
Layoffs have not taken place in past shutdowns, so its an unprecedented move on the part of the Trump administration.
Federal employee unions maintain that it is illegal to fire federal employees during a government shutdown. AFGE National President Everett Kelley said in a statement:
It is disgraceful that the Trump administration has used the government shutdown as an excuse to illegally fire thousands of workers who provide critical services to communities across the country.
Federal workers are tired of being used as pawns for the political and personal gains of the elected and un-elected leaders. It’s time for Congress to do their jobs and negotiate an end to this shutdown immediately.
AFGE has already filed a lawsuit over the shutdown RIFs.
NARFE National President William Shackelford said in a statement:
In our view, the firings also violate the Antideficiency Act, which bars federal officials from obligating or expending funds without the authorization of Congress. Yet the RIF actions create new administrative burdens and financial obligations, such as severance payments connected to offboarding terminated employees.
Finally, the firings may be gutting agencies to intentionally prevent the administration from carrying out its future obligations under congressional mandates – and the U.S. Constitution – following a resolution of the funding impasse. That amounts to an abdication of the president’s constitutional responsibility to ‘take care that the Laws be faithfully executed.’
News reports have stated that the Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Education, Treasury Department, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Environmental Protection Agency, and Department of Homeland Security were among the agencies where employees had received RIF notices.
According to The Hill, HHS employees in multiple divisions had received RIF notices. “All HHS employees receiving reduction-in-force notices were designated non-essential by their respective divisions,” the agency said in a statement.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the total layoffs would impact “thousands of federal workers” according to a White House official.
CBS News reported that over 4,000 layoffs of federal employees were planned based on a court filing from the Justice Department on Friday night. According to CBS News:
On Friday, seven agencies began issuing reduction-in-force notices to more than 4,000 workers, according to the filing. They are:
- Department of Commerce: approximately 315 employees
- Department of Education: approximately 466 employees
- Department of Energy: approximately 187 employees
- Department of Health and Human Services: between approximately 1,100 and 1,200 employees
- Department of Housing and Urban Development: approximately 442 employees
- Department of Homeland Security: approximately 176 employees
- Department of Treasury: approximately 1,446 employees
The court filing came in response to an emergency motion by two unions — the American Federation of Government Employees and the AFL-CIO — that are suing to block the mass layoffs during the government shutdown.
These layoffs reportedly are just a start. A Trump administration official told The Hill, “More RIFs are coming.”
The court filing is in response to a lawsuit brought by unions over federal employee layoffs during the shutdown. AFGE and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) argue that the Trump administration cannot fire federal employees during a government shutdown but can instead only furlough them.
The case was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The unions are now seeking a temporary restraining order to stop the RIFs from taking place.