White House announces federal worker layoffs as shutdown nears third week | US federal government shutdown 2025

The White Home introduced layoffs of federal employees on Friday, making good on a risk it had made in response to the US authorities shutdown, which now seems set to stretch into a 3rd straight week.Russell Vought, the director of the White Home workplace of administration and funds, wrote on social media that “RIFs have begun”, referring to the federal government’s reduction-in-force process to let workers go.Whereas Vought offered no particulars on the departments and businesses at which the layoffs have been happening, a treasury spokesperson mentioned notices had been distributed throughout the division. A Division of Homeland Safety spokesperson informed the Guardian that layoffs would additionally occur on the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Safety Company.Union leaders warned the layoffs would have “devastating results” on providers relied upon by tens of millions of Individuals, and pledged to problem the strikes in courtroom.“It’s disgraceful that the Trump administration has used the federal government shutdown as an excuse to illegally fireplace hundreds of employees who present vital providers to communities throughout the nation,” mentioned Everett Kelley, nationwide president of the American Federation of Authorities Staff (AFGE), which represents 800,000 federal and DC authorities employees.Vought had warned that federal businesses might slash jobs if the federal government shuts down, however the Trump administration largely held off after funding lapsed final week. Requested at a press convention earlier than Vought’s announcement why no layoffs had occurred, the highest Senate Republican, John Thune, signaled they might occur quickly.“The White Home has now for 10 days laid off doing something in hopes that sufficient Senate Democrats would come to their senses and do the appropriate factor and fund the federal government,” he mentioned.Commuters close to the Federal Triangle metro station on the William Jefferson Clinton federal constructing in Washington DC on 2 October 2025. {Photograph}: Bloomberg/Getty Photographs“My expectation is, sure, they’re going to begin making some choices about the right way to transfer cash round, which businesses and departments are going to be impacted, which applications are going to be impacted, which workers are going to be impacted. That’s what a shutdown does.”The AFL-CIO, the most important federation of labor unions within the US, responded to Vought’s publish on Friday, saying: “America’s unions will see you in courtroom.”Final week, the AFGE and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Staff (AFSCME) filed for a short lived restraining order to dam the Trump administration from finishing up any reductions in pressure (RIFs) in the course of the shutdown. The unions filed an emergency movement for a short lived restraining order on Friday, following Vought’s publish.Lee Saunders, president of the AFSCME, mentioned: “These mass firings are unlawful and could have devastating results on the providers tens of millions of Individuals depend on each day. Whether or not it’s meals inspectors, public security employees, or the numerous different public service employees who hold America working, federal workers shouldn’t be bargaining chips on this administration’s political video games.“By illegally firing these employees, the administration isn’t simply focusing on federal workers, it’s hurting their households and the communities they serve each day. We’ll pursue each out there authorized avenue to cease this administration’s illegal assaults on public service employees’ freedoms and jobs.”Congressional Democrats have refused to vote for a Republican-backed invoice to revive funding except it contains an array of healthcare-centered concessions. After holding seven unsuccessful votes on the events’ spending payments, the Senate’s Republican leaders have put the chamber in recess till subsequent Tuesday, which means the standoff is unlikely to be resolved earlier than then.The layoffs got here on the identical day authorities workers acquired solely a partial paycheck protecting the ultimate days of September however not the start of October, since appropriations lapsed firstly of the month.At a Friday-morning press convention, the Republican Home speaker, Mike Johnson, blasted Senate Democrats for not supporting the GOP’s invoice, which handed his chamber on a close to party-line vote.If the federal government isn’t reopened by subsequent Wednesday, US army personnel are set to overlook a paycheck.“That is the final paycheck that 700,000 federal employees will see till Washington Democrats determine to do their job and reopen the federal government,” Johnson mentioned.skip previous publication promotionSign as much as This Week in TrumplandA deep dive into the insurance policies, controversies and oddities surrounding the Trump administrationPrivacy Discover: Newsletters might include details about charities, on-line advertisements, and content material funded by outdoors events. For those who wouldn’t have an account, we are going to create a visitor account for you on theguardian.com to ship you this text. You possibly can full full registration at any time. For extra details about how we use your knowledge see our Privateness Coverage. We use Google reCaptcha to guard our web site and the Google Privateness Coverage and Phrases of Service apply.after publication promotion Upkeep employees simply after midnight on the US Capitol on 1 October 2025 in Washington DC. {Photograph}: Kent Nishimura/Getty Photographs“Beginning subsequent week, American service members, lots of whom dwell paycheck to paycheck, are going to overlook a full paycheck. If Democrats don’t finish this shutdown by Monday, then that October 15 date will move us by.”Johnson has stored the Home out of session all through the shutdown in an effort to strain Senate Democrats into supporting the Republican funding proposal. Earlier this week, a gaggle of Home Democrats despatched the speaker a letter asking him to permit a vote on laws that might guarantee US troops receives a commission throughout a shutdown, however Johnson has refused to deliver lawmakers again to Washington.The Senate has turn into a chokepoint within the funding battle as a result of any laws wants at the least 60 votes to advance within the chamber. In change for his or her help, Democratic senators are demanding that premium tax credit for Reasonably priced Care Act well being plans be prolonged past their end-of-the-year expiration date.They’re additionally looking for safeguards in opposition to Donald Trump’s rescissions of congressionally accredited funding, a restoration of cash for public media shops, and an undoing of cuts to the Medicaid healthcare program for poor and disabled Individuals.Max Stier, the president and CEO of the non-profit Partnership for Public Service, condemned the gridlock’s impression on authorities employees.“It’s flawed to make federal workers endure as a result of our leaders in Congress and the White Home have did not hold our authorities open and operational,” Stier mentioned.“Our air visitors controllers, VA nurses, smoke jumpers and meals inspectors usually are not liable for this authorities shutdown, and so they shouldn’t bear the monetary burden created by the failures of our elected officers. The irony is that members of Congress and senior White Home leaders are persevering with to be paid.”Earlier this week, on 7 October, a federal choose ordered the Trump administration to supply specifics on the standing of any layoff plans, the affected businesses and whether or not any federal workers have been recalled again to work to hold out layoffs, by Friday, 10 October.A report by the Heart for American Progress on 30 September argued {that a} authorities shutdown limits the power of the Trump administration to hold out firings, citing steerage from the workplace of administration and funds that admitted any everlasting layoffs have to have been initiated earlier than the shutdown started.“Constraints on completely firing federal workers throughout a shutdown largely exist due to the Antideficiency Act and the excellence between ‘shutdown furloughs’ that occur throughout a lapse in congressional appropriations and ‘administrative furloughs’, that are division and company procedures on the right way to completely let workers go, together with – for instance – by a RIF,” the report, authored by Greta Bedekovics, affiliate director of democracy coverage on the Heart for American Progress, states. “The Trump administration’s threats to layoff federal workers ought to be understood as a aim of the administration that shall be pursued with or with out a authorities shutdown and mustn’t drive lawmakers’ choices on whether or not to help authorities funding payments.”Shrai Popat contributed extra reporting