White House says ‘substantial’ layoffs of federal workers have begun, with few details

The Trump administration says “substantial” layoffs of federal workers have begun, appearing to follow through on threats to slash the size of government during the shutdown.

The announcement first came from Office of Management and Budget director Russell Vought in a social media post on X that said, “The RIFs have begun.”

An OMB spokesperson confirmed to NPR that the reduction-in-force, or RIF process was underway and was “substantial” but declined to provide details of how many people are affected.

At least one federal agency confirmed that reduction-in-force notices are being sent out to federal employees.

“HHS employees across multiple divisions have received reduction-in-force notices as a direct consequence of the Democrat-led government shutdown,” Andrew Nixon, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services said shortly after Vought’s post. “All HHS employees receiving reduction-in-force notices were designated non-essential by their respective divisions.”

The spokesperson blamed the Biden administration for creating a “bloated bureaucracy,” although HHS has already cut more workers — 20,000 workers through an earlier RIF and through voluntary resignations and retirements — than were added during the Biden administration.

A union representing Education Department employees said in a statement that “multiple union members” confirmed that at least two offices would be affected by RIFs, the Office of Communications and Outreach as well as the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education. AFGE Local 252 said it would fight for its members and the Education Department.

It is not clear what other agencies have been affected or when any terminations would take effect.

Federal law is specific about the process that RIFs must follow, including a minimum 60 days’ notice of their end date, or 30 days if a waiver is granted by the Office of Personnel Management.

Some agencies may need to notify unions or Congress, and then draft official notices to send to affected employees. The notices are required to include information like the reasons for the RIF and the effective date.

Several unions already filed suit over the threat of RIFs ahead of the shutdown, arguing “the Trump administration has made unlawful threats to dismantle essential federal services and functions provided by federal personnel, deviating from historic practice and violating applicable laws.”

The RIF announcement came hours before a court-ordered deadline for the federal government to detail the status of “any currently planned or in-progress RIF notices to be issued during/because of the government shutdown.”

In a statement Friday, American Federation of Government Employees National President Everett Kelley slammed the announcement.

“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,” he said.

Since the shutdown began, the Trump administration has made several threats to cut spending, fire workers and not pay some furloughed employees, arguing that the reductions are the fault of Democrats who won’t drop their demands for extended health care subsidies in exchange for reopening the government.

The White House has also said its decision to freeze transportation funding in Chicago and New York and cancel billions of dollars in Biden-era energy project grants are a continuation of their push to shrink the size and scope of the federal bureaucracy.

While the Trump administration has argued that cuts to the federal government need to happen because of the lapse in funding, some experts say a shutdown does not mean layoffs are necessary.

“There is no statute requiring them to lay off a substantial share of federal employees during a temporary government shutdown,” Jessica Riedl with the center-right Manhattan Institute said. “That statute doesn’t exist, and such practice has not occurred during previous shutdowns.”

Have information you want to share about agency reduction-in-force plans and other changes to the federal government? Reach out to this author through encrypted communications on Signal: Stephen Fowler is at stphnfwlr.25.