ISTANBUL
The White House said Friday that mass layoffs of federal employees have begun, marking one of the most severe escalations yet in the government shutdown that has paralyzed Washington for 10 days.
Russ Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), confirmed the move on the US social media company X, writing that “the RIFs have begun,” a reference to reduction-in-force plans that will eliminate thousands of jobs across federal agencies.
An OMB spokesperson described the layoffs as “substantial” but declined to specify the total. Court filings later revealed the administration intends to dismiss at least 4,100 federal employees during the ongoing shutdown.
Largest cuts at Education, Health, and Treasury
The filings, submitted to the US District Court for the Northern District of California in response to a union lawsuit, provided the first detailed breakdown of the reductions.
Stephen Billy, a senior adviser at the OMB, said notices were issued Friday to 315 employees at Commerce, 466 at Education, 187 at Energy, 20-30 at the Environmental Protection Agency, 1,100-1,200 at Health and Human Services, 442 at Housing and Urban Development, 176 at Homeland Security, and 1,446 at the Treasury Department -- totaling between 4,152 and 4,262 positions.
He said some agencies “are actively considering whether to conduct additional layoffs,” while others are still “making pre-decisional assessments regarding offices and subdivisions that may be considered for potential RIFs.”
All figures remain “tentative and subject to change,” Billy added.
Unions, Congress denounce mass firings
Federal employee unions called the firings “illegal” and politically motivated.
“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,” said Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), which filed the lawsuit.
Union officials said the Education Department has been hit hardest, with nearly all employees below the director level in the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education dismissed.
Democrats accused the White House of weaponizing the shutdown to advance partisan goals.
“Let’s be blunt: Nobody’s forcing Trump and Vought to do this,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. “They’re callously choosing to hurt people -- the workers who protect our country, inspect our food, respond when disasters strike. This is deliberate chaos.”
Some Republicans also voiced unease.
“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,” said Sen. Susan Collins, chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
White House defends move as ‘fiscally prudent’
The administration defended the cuts as “lawful, necessary, and fiscally prudent,” arguing that the reductions will help pressure Senate Democrats to approve a stopgap bill extending government funding through Nov. 21.
“This is nothing new, and no one should be intimidated by these crooks,” said Sen. Patty Murray, the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee.
Officials said the White House ordered agencies to prepare RIF plans before the shutdown began on Oct. 1, targeting programs deemed “not consistent with the President’s priorities.”
Trump warned earlier in the week that if the standoff continued, “a lot of those jobs will never come back.”
“These unnecessary and misguided reductions in force will further hollow out our federal government, rob it of critical expertise and hobble its capacity to effectively serve the public,” said Max Stier, president of the Partnership for Public Service, a nonpartisan watchdog group.
Court ruling expected within days
Judge Susan Illston, a Clinton appointee who is presiding over the union lawsuit in California, is expected to decide soon whether to halt the layoffs. Her ruling could determine how long federal operations remain crippled as the shutdown edges toward its third week, leaving hundreds of thousands of workers furloughed or working without pay.
