Trump administration begins laying off more than 4,000 federal workers amid government shutdown, court filing shows
WASHINGTON – The Trump administration began Friday layoffs of more than 4,000 federal employees, according to a court filing, while the government remains paralyzed due to Congress’s inability to reach a funding agreement.
Workforce reduction notices are being sent to federal employees in seven departments, with the Treasury Department and the Health and Human Services Department being hardest hit and accounting for more than half of the total layoffs, according to a new Justice Department filing.
The court filing follows a lawsuit over layoffs related to the shutdown of the American Federation of Government Employees and the AFL-CIO.
Other affected agencies include the departments of Homeland Security, Education, Energy, Housing and Urban Development and the Environmental Protection Agency.
“The RIFs have begun,” White House Budget Director Russ Vought said Friday, referring to “workforce reductions” for workers.
Although he did not provide details, a spokesperson for the White House Office of Management and Budget confirmed to NBC News that layoffs had begun and said they would be “substantial.”
On Friday evening, a senior administration official told NBC News that “these RIFs are a snapshot in time and only represent the situation at the time of filing,” suggesting the situation remains fluid.
OMB Senior Advisor Stephen Billy wrote in Friday’s filing that affected agencies, among others, “may actively consider whether to implement additional RIFs, including RIFs related to the current expiration of the appropriations.”
Billy also said agencies continue to consider layoffs, but “those assessments remain under deliberation and are not final.” He did not provide an estimate of additional layoffs or the timeline.
On Friday, notices were sent to approximately 315 employees at the Commerce Department, 466 at the Education Department and 187 at the Energy Department. Approximately 1,100 to 1,200 health and human services employees received notifications, in addition to 176 DHS employees and 1,446 Treasury employees.
An estimated 20 to 30 EPA employees received general notices Friday that they may be affected by workforce reductions in the future.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, a branch of the Commerce Department, also sent notices to 126 employees during the Oct. 1 government shutdown.
Democrats oppose the layoffs, saying a shutdown does not force President Donald Trump to lay off workers or give him new powers to do so, arguing that the White House is vindictive.
A DHS spokesperson said the layoffs within the department were taking place within the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which has been a major Trump target since its then-director claimed he lost the 2020 election to President Joe Biden. “During the last administration, CISA focused on censorship, branding and electioneering,” the DHS spokesperson said. “This is part of CISA’s return to mission.”
HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon said the department’s cuts were aimed at countering a “bloated bureaucracy” created under the Biden administration, adding: “HHS continues to close unnecessary and redundant entities, including those that are at odds with the Trump administration’s Make America Healthy Again agenda.”
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Prominent labor groups responded Friday by questioning the legality of the White House’s decision and threatening legal action, including the AFL-CIO, which tweeted: “America’s unions will see you in court.”
AFSCME President Lee Saunders said “mass layoffs are illegal” and will harm families, pledging to “pursue all available legal avenues to stop” the administration’s action.
Federal employee unions had already sued the Trump administration over OMB’s threat to trigger mass layoffs of federal workers even before the shutdown began on October 1. Plaintiffs in this ongoing lawsuit filed a supplemental motion Friday seeking an immediate temporary restraining order preventing OMB from ordering agencies to make workforce reductions. He cited Vought’s post on X stating that “RIFs have begun.”
The White House decision defies the wishes of Sen. Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee, which oversees government funding.
“I’ve been very clear that I don’t believe there should be layoffs of furloughed workers,” Collins told reporters Wednesday.
Collins said Friday after the announcement, “I strongly oppose OMB Director Russ Vought’s attempt to permanently lay off federal workers who have been furloughed due to a completely unnecessary government shutdown brought on by Senator Schumer.” »
Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, another Republican on the Appropriations Committee, also criticized the layoffs, saying in an article on X that they were “poorly timed and another example of this administration’s punitive actions toward the federal workforce.”
“Laying off federal employees during a shutdown will further harm American workers who have dedicated their lives to public service and jeopardize agency missions once we finally reopen government,” Murkowski wrote.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said: “Let’s be frank: No one is forcing Trump and Vought to do this. … They callously choose to hurt people – the workers who protect our country, inspect our food, respond when disasters strike. This is deliberate chaos.”
“Here’s what’s worse: Republicans would rather see thousands of Americans lose their jobs than sit down and negotiate with Democrats to reopen the government,” Schumer said.
And Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, said “this administration has been recklessly laying off — and rehiring — essential workers all year long,” adding, “This is nothing new, and no one should be intimidated by these crooks.” »
Vought’s announcement comes a day after the Senate failed for the seventh time to pass either the Republican bill to temporarily keep the government open or the Democratic alternative that includes additional health care funding.
