Donald Trump began his promised mass purge of federal workers Friday, as more than 4,100 people were laid off as the government shutdown rolls on.
The president previewed the pink slips in a press conference in the Oval Office earlier Friday, blaming them and the shutdown on the Democrats.
‘It’ll be extensive and it will be Democrat-focused since we believe they initiated this matter. It’ll involve many individuals, all due to the Democrats,’ Trump stated.
It’s the biggest set of firings in government since Elon Musk’s DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) purge early in Trump’s second term.
On Friday, the White House budget office announced that large-scale dismissals of federal employees have commenced to apply additional pressure on Democratic lawmakers amid the ongoing government shutdown.
Russ Vought, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, mentioned on the social platform X that the ‘RIFs have started,’ referencing reduction-in-force strategies intended to decrease the federal government’s size.
Just before the governmental shutdown began on Oct. 1, the White House had indicated it would adopt this assertive layoff approach, instructing all federal agencies to present their reduction-in-force plans to the budget office for evaluation.
They suggested that reduction-in-force might pertain to federal programs whose funding would be interrupted during a government shutdown, lack funding otherwise, and aren’t in alignment with the President’s priorities.
Donald Trump began his promised mass purge of federal workers Friday, as more than 4,100 people were laid off as the government shutdown rolls on
The White House budget office announced Friday that mass firings of federal employees have begun to heighten pressure on Democratic lawmakers as the government shutdown proceeds. Pictured: A USAID worker retrieves their belongings after being dismissed in February during the Elon Musk-led DOGE purge.
In a court filing, the budget office said well over 4,000 employees would be fired, though it noted that the funding situation was ‘fluid and rapidly evolving.’
The firings would hit the hardest at the departments of the Treasury, which would lose over 1,400 employees; Health and Human Services, with a loss of over 1,100; and Housing and Urban Development, set to lose over 400.
The departments of Commerce, Education, Energy, and Homeland Security and the Environmental Protection Agency were all set to fire hundreds of more employees. It was not clear which particular programs would be affected.
The aggressive move by Trump’s budget office goes far beyond what usually happens in a government shutdown and escalates an already politically toxic dynamic between the White House and Congress.
Talks to end the shutdown are almost nonexistent.
Typically, federal workers are furloughed but restored to their jobs once the shutdown ends, traditionally with back pay.
Some 750,000 employees are expected to be furloughed during the shutdown, officials have said.
Trump said that, going forward, ‘We´re going to make a determination, do we want a lot? And I must tell you, a lot of them happen to be Democrat oriented.’
‘These are people that the Democrats wanted, that, in many cases, were not appropriate,’ he said of federal employees, eventually adding, ‘Many of them will be fired.’
It’s the biggest set of firings in government since Elon Musk ‘s DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) purge early in Trump’s second term
The firings would hit the hardest at the departments of the Treasury, which would lose over 1,400 employees; Health and Human Services, with a loss of over 1,100; and Housing and Urban Development, set to lose over 400
Still, some leading Republicans were highly critical of the administration’s actions.
‘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 Maine Senator Susan Collins, the chair of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, who blamed the federal closure on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski called the announcement ‘poorly timed’ and ‘yet another example of this administration´s punitive actions toward the federal workforce.’
For his part, Schumer said the blame for the layoffs rested with Trump.
‘Let´s be blunt: nobody’s forcing Trump and Vought to do this,’ Schumer said.
‘They don´t have to do it; they want to. They´re callously choosing to hurt people – the workers who protect our country, inspect our food, respond when disasters strike. This is deliberate chaos.’
The White House had previewed its tactics shortly before the government shutdown began on Oct. 1, telling all federal agencies to submit their reduction-in-force plans to the budget office for its review.
It said reduction-in-force plans could apply to federal programs whose funding would lapse in a government shutdown, are otherwise not funded and are ‘not consistent with the President´s priorities.’
On Friday, the Education Department was among the agencies hit by new layoffs, a department spokesperson said.
Russ Vought, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, said on the social platform X that the ‘RIFs have begun,’ referring to reduction-in-force plans aimed at reducing the size of the federal government
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said the blame for the layoffs rested with Trump
A labor union for the agency´s workers said the administration is laying off almost all employees below the director level at the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, while fewer than 10 employees were being terminated at the agency´s Office of Communications and Outreach.
Notices of firings have also taken place at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which leads federal efforts to reduce risk to the nation´s cyber and physical infrastructure, according to DHS, where CISA is housed.
The agency has been a frequent Trump target over its work to counter misinformation about the 2020 presidential election and the COVID-19 pandemic. DHS said the layoffs were ‘part of getting CISA back on mission.’
Federal health workers were also being fired, though an HHS spokesman did not say how many or which agencies were being hit hardest.
A spokesperson for the EPA, which also has an unspecified number of layoffs, blamed the Democrats for the firings and said they can vote to reopen the government anytime.
An official for the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents federal workers and is suing the Trump administration over the firings, said in a legal filing Friday that the Treasury Department is set to issue layoff notices to 1,300 employees.
The AFGE asked a federal judge to halt the firings, calling the action an abuse of power designed to punish workers and pressure Congress.
‘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 in a statement.
Democrats have tried to call the administration´s bluff, arguing the firings could be illegal, and had seemed bolstered by the fact that the White House had not immediately pursued the layoffs once the shutdown began.
But Trump signaled earlier this week that job cuts could be coming in ‘four or five days.’
‘If this keeps going on, it´ll be substantial, and a lot of those jobs will never come back,’ he said Tuesday.
