Trump Administration Begins Layoffs Amid Government Shutdown

Sat Oct 11 2025 20:27:10 GMT+0300 (Eastern European Summer Time)

In a controversial move amid an ongoing government shutdown, the Trump administration starts laying off thousands of federal workers, triggering legal battles with labor unions.

The Trump administration has initiated layoffs affecting over 4,000 federal workers, using the ongoing government shutdown as leverage against Democrats. This decision, announced by Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought, has met with legal challenges from labor unions claiming the move is illegal. Key agencies including Treasury and Health and Human Services are among those conducting the layoffs, reigniting debate over the impact of the prolonged shutdown on federal employees.

The Trump administration has begun laying off thousands of federal workers in an effort to pressure Democrats amid the ongoing government shutdown. The RIFs have begun, White House Office of Management Director Russell Vought announced in a post on X on Friday morning, referring to an acronym for reductions in force.

A spokesman for his office confirmed the cuts had started and were substantial. The size and scope began coming into focus later on Friday, when the administration disclosed seven agencies had started laying off more than 4,000 workers.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to use the shutdown to further his long-held goal of reducing the federal workforce.

By law, the federal government must give its workers at least 30-days notice that it is laying them off. After Vought's tweet, major departments such as Treasury and Health and Human Services (HHS) confirmed they were issuing notices to employees, and Homeland Security, where many of its employees are considered essential, said it would lay off workers at its Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

However, exact details were scarce. Two major unions, the American Federation of Government Employees and AFL-CIO, had filed a lawsuit challenging the legality of Vought's announced plans to carry out layoffs during the shutdown. On Friday, once he said the process had begun, they asked a federal court in Northern California to temporarily block the move.

A temporary restraining order would prevent agencies determining how best to organize their workforces, they argued, noting that the government has traditionally been granted the widest latitude in the dispatch of its own internal affairs.

The layoffs are unprecedented. In past shutdowns, furloughed employees returned to work when the government reopened and were paid retroactively for their time away. Currently, about 40% of the federal workforce - approximately 750,000 people - is affected by the shutdown.

Significantly culling the federal workforce has been a long-term priority for Vought. The president and his budget chief have viewed the shutdown as a unique opportunity to implement further cuts, on top of the thousands already made since Trump took office through a combination of firings and resignations.

Democrats have accused Trump and Vought of causing deliberate chaos, while Republicans blame Democrats for the impasse that has led to the shutdown. The current deadlock began 10 days ago after lawmakers failed to reach a funding deal.