White House says 'substantial' layoffs under way amid US shutdown

Donald Trump's budget chief Russell Vought

The White House has said it was beginning to lay off federal workers in an effort to pressure Democrats amid the ongoing government shutdown.

A spokesman for the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) confirmed the cuts had started and were "substantial", but did not provide any other details.

"The RIFs have begun," OMB Director Russell Vought announced in a post on X, referring to an acronym for "reductions in force".

The Trump administration had repeatedly threatened to use the government shutdown to issue layoffs as part of its long-held goal of reducing the federal workforce.

The size and scope of the layoffs reamin unclear, including how many employees would be affected.

A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security told the BBC that reductions-in-force would be issued at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

The Treasury Department also confirmed that RIF notices have begun.

Employees at the Department of Health and Human Resources "across multiple divisions have received reduction-in-force notices as a direct consequence of the Democrat-led government shutdown", spokesperson Andrew Nixon said.

Two major unions, the American Federation of Government Employees and AFL-CIO, have filed a lawsuit challenging the legality of Vought's plans to carry out layoffs during the shutdown.

On Friday, they asked a federal court in Northern California to temporarily block the move.

"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," AFGE president Everett Kelley said.

"Federal workers are tired of being used as pawns for the political and personal gains of the elected and un-elected leaders."

The US government shutdown began 10 days ago, after lawmakers failed to reach a deal on a funding measure to keep the government open.

"They held off for 10 days," Republican Senator John Thune told reporters, referring to the White House. "At some point they were going to have to make some of these decisions and prioritise where they're going to spend money when the government is shut down."

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, accused Trump and Vought of causing "deliberate chaos".

The government shut down on 1 October after Democrats and Republicans failed to agree on a new funding bill that would keep the government open.

Democrats have refused to vote for a Republican spending plan that would reopen the government, saying it must include an agreement to preserve expiring tax credits that reduce health insurance costs for millions of Americans.

Democratic lawmakers also want to reverse Trump's cuts to Medicaid, which provides healthcare to elderly and low-income people.

Republicans accused Democrats of unnecessarily bringing the government to a halt, and have blamed them for the knock-on effects caused by the federal work stoppage.

A shutdown meant that "non-essential" federal workers would be placed on unpaid leave. It is currently affecting about 40% of the federal workforce - about 750,000 people.

Furloughed employees are legally supposed to receive back-pay after a shutdown ends and they return to work, but the Trump administration has insinuated this might not happen.

Significantly culling the federal workforce has been a long-term priority for Vought. The president and his budget chief have made no secret that they would use the unique opportunity provided to them by a government shutdown to make further firings.

On 2 October, Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that he had met with Vought "to determine which of the many Democrat Agencies, most of which are a political SCAM, he recommends to be cut, and whether or not those cuts will be temporary or permanent."

Before the shutdown, the White House budget office issued a memo to federal agencies telling them to prepare reduction-in-force plans, Politico reported.

The memo said agencies should consider employees or programmes whose funding would lapse due to the shutdown or were "not consistent with the President's priorities."

The Trump administration had already made significant cuts to the federal workforce since January through a combination of firings, buyouts, administrative leave and resignations.

The Partnership for Public Service, a bipartisan group studying the federal government, estimated the federal workforce had been reduced by about 200,000 employees as of 23 September.