The White House begins laying off federal workers amid government shutdown

The Trump administration made good on what it had signaled and began executing substantial layoffs of federal employees during the tenth day of the government shutdown, making good on previous threats to slash the bureaucracy to pressure Democrats in the Congress.

Along those lines, Office of Management and Budget (OMB) director Russell Vought, in a post on his X account, announced, "The RIFs have begun."

The White House had previously warned that thousands of workers could lose their jobs if the shutdown persisted, directly blaming Democrats for rejecting short-term funding plans proposed by Republicans.

As it is, administration officials indicated that agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Department of Education, the Department of Commerce, and the DHS's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency (CISA) are among those affected.

At HHS, for example, employees in "multiple divisions" received layoff notices, described as "non-essential" during the shutdown and described as a direct consequence of the "Democrat-led shutdown."

Along those lines, the department emphasized that it continues to eliminate “wasteful and duplicative entities” aligning with the Trump Administration's "Make America Healthy Again" agenda. The Department of Education, meanwhile, also confirmed impacts, without specifying numbers.

Different from previous shutdowns

This move breaks with precedent from previous shutdowns, where federal workers were temporarily furloughed and received back pay upon reopening the government, without permanent layoffs.

Instead, this time around, OMB instructed agencies to prepare RIF plans to eliminate positions in programs "not consistent with the president's priorities" as part of a strategy to reduce the size of government.

Unions respond

Unions responded strongly. The AFL-CIO posted on X: "America's unions will see you in court," alluding to lawsuits already filed by the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) and other groups to block the layoffs.

Democrats condemn action

Democratic leaders, such as the Senator Chuck Schumer, condemned the action: “Russell Vought just fired thousands of Americans with a tweet,” arguing that the shutdown does not grant special powers to cause "deliberate chaos."