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The White House said Friday that mass firings of federal workers have begun, marking an extraordinary escalation in President Donald Trump’s standoff with congressional Democrats as the government shutdown entered its tenth day.
Russ Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget, announced the move on X, formerly Twitter, writing that the “RIFs have begun,” using the acronym for “reduction in force.” He said the cuts are part of the administration’s effort to permanently shrink the federal workforce.
A White House budget office spokesperson described the layoffs as “substantial,” though declined to provide details on how many employees were affected or which agencies were targeted.
The Trump administration previewed the controversial tactic shortly before the shutdown began on Oct. 1, ordering all federal agencies to submit reduction-in-force plans to the budget office. Officials said the plans would apply to programs whose funding lapsed during the shutdown, were otherwise not funded, or were “not consistent with the President’s priorities.”
Typically, government shutdowns result in temporary furloughs, with employees returning to work and receiving back pay once funding is restored. But this move goes further, making some job losses potentially permanent.
Democrats have called the firings illegal and accused the administration of weaponizing the shutdown to push a political agenda. “This is a deliberate effort to break the civil service and punish public workers for doing their jobs,” one Democratic lawmaker said Friday.
Trump, however, defended the plan earlier in the week, saying deep job cuts were inevitable if Democrats continued to resist his budget demands.
“I’ll be able to tell you that in four or five days if this keeps going on,” Trump said Tuesday during an Oval Office meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. “If this keeps going on, it’ll be substantial — and a lot of those jobs will never come back.”
On Capitol Hill, both chambers of Congress were empty Friday as the impasse dragged on. Senate Republicans have struggled to persuade Democrats to back a short-term funding bill, while Democrats insist on a broader deal that includes a commitment to preserve health care benefits.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., accused Democrats of “stonewalling” negotiations and urged centrist members of the party to “get a backbone.”
“There’s no reason hardworking Americans should pay the price for political grandstanding,” Thune said at a news conference.
With no talks scheduled and mass layoffs now underway, the showdown between the White House and Democrats appears poised to deepen — with federal workers caught squarely in the middle.
