WASHINGTON – Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought posted on social media Friday afternoon that previously threatened federal layoffs have started.
“The RIFs have begun,” posted Vought on Friday.
What we know:
Trump administration officials said furloughed federal health workers are being fired “as a direct consequence” of the government shutdown, but they did not say how many or which agencies were being hit hardest.
A U.S. Department of Health and Human Services spokesman confirmed the terminations in an email Friday, saying everyone receiving a notice was designated as non-essential, AP reports.
“HHS continues to close wasteful and duplicative entities, including those that are at odds with the Trump administration’s Make America Healthy Again agenda,” said the spokesman, Andrew Nixon.
What we don’t know:
It’s still unclear which agencies are affected and how many people will be laid off.
The backstory:
The Trump administration has been threatening these layoffs since before the government shutdown began.
Last month, a memo from OMB told agencies to use the shutdown as an opportunity to terminate employees in programs with no further funding source or those that don’t align with the president’s priorities.
The memo also advised agencies to bring back only the minimum number of staff required to legally operate once the shutdown ends.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said during a press briefing Monday that the White House was working to determine “who unfortunately is going to have to be laid off” if the government stays closed.
Trump on Sunday told reporters that cuts were “taking place right now, and it’s all because of the Democrats.”
Another OMB memo circulated earlier this week claimed that furloughed federal workers were not guaranteed to receive backpay, despite a 2019 law passed by Congress and signed during Trump’s first term.
What they’re saying:
Congressman Don Beyer (D-VA) issued a statement on Friday:
“The mass firings Russ Vought and the Trump Administration announced today are cruel, illegal, and yet another attack on our economy. This is a disaster for Virginia, intentionally inflicted by President Trump and his Republican allies. These firings are also already being fought in court.
“This President is killing jobs at a disastrous rate, while forcing the continuation of a government shutdown that would end if he simply agreed to prevent skyrocketing health care price increases. Instead of doing that, however, Trump and Vought are illegally firing more workers, hurting essential services for the American people, and damaging our economy in Virginia and across the country. Vought is also further abusing power by corruptly freezing hundreds of energy infrastructure projects, which will kill even more jobs and raise electricity prices across the nation.
“Everyone should understand that a government shutdown does not require or enable mass firings of federal workers, in fact it forbids it. President Trump and Russ Vought have been firing federal workers by the thousands continuously since the beginning of the DOGE disaster, and as numerous Republicans have admitted, they plainly hoped to use the pretext of a shutdown to fire even more American workers. But directing these firings during a shutdown violates the law, and the laws they are violating are criminal statutes.
“This Administration’s corruption is only matched by its willingness to sabotage our economy and raise prices for the American people. Trump and Vought’s lawless contempt for Congress’ powers under the Constitution will also make it harder to get the bipartisan deal that is needed to end this shutdown.
“I will continue doing all I can to support and protect federal workers and contractors in Northern Virginia and across the country. To those workers, I say again: you deserve so much better than this, and while I know this is yet another dark moment in a dark year, please do not lose hope. The country still sees and values your service, and your work is not in vain.”
