🔗 Share this article

Administration officials disclosed the start of government employee layoffs on the end of the week, making good on earlier warnings in response to the continuing US government shutdown, which is now poised to extend into its third consecutive week.

Formal Statement and Early Information

The director of the White House budget office wrote on social media that “reductions in force have begun,” indicating the official procedure for letting employees go.

While the official did not specify which agencies were affected, a representative from the Treasury Department confirmed that notices had been distributed within that department. Furthermore, a Department of Homeland Security representative noted that staff reductions would also occur at the CISA. Moreover, a union representing federal workers announced that members at the Education Department would be affected by the staff cuts.

Union Response and Legal Challenges

Labor representatives cautions that the terminations would have “severe consequences” on services used by millions of Americans and vowed to contest the actions in court.

“It is disgraceful that the government has used the funding lapse as an pretext to illegally fire thousands of workers who deliver critical services to communities nationwide,” said a national union president, representing the American Federation of Government Employees.

The largest labor federation in the US responded to the news, declaring, “America’s unions will see you in court.”

Legislative Impasse and Budget Dispute

Congressional Democrats have refused to support a GOP-supported legislation to reopen the government unless it contains healthcare-centered concessions. After multiple unsuccessful votes, the Senate’s Republican leaders have put the chamber in recess until next Tuesday, indicating the standoff is unlikely to be resolved soon.

At a press conference, the Republican House speaker, the speaker, blasted opposition lawmakers for rejecting the Republican bill, which was approved in the lower chamber on a near party-line vote.

“This is the last paycheck that government employees will see until opposition leaders decide to do their job and end the shutdown,” the speaker said. “Starting next week, military personnel, many of whom live on tight budgets, are going to miss a full paycheck.”

Legal and Operational Constraints

Last week, unions filed for a temporary restraining order to prevent the administration from implementing any reductions in force during the funding gap. Moreover, a federal judge directed the administration to disclose details on layoff plans, affected agencies, and whether any government staff had been brought back to carry out staff reductions.

An analysis argued that a government shutdown restricts the ability of the government to carry out firings, referencing official advice that acknowledged any permanent layoffs need to have been started prior to the funding expired.

Consequences for Employees

The layoffs occurred on the very day that government employees received only a incomplete payment covering the final days of September but excluding the start of the current month, since funding expired at the beginning of the month.

Max Stier, the president of the non-profit Partnership for Public Service, condemned the political stalemate’s effect on government workers.

“It is wrong to make government staff suffer because our elected officials in the legislature and the White House have failed to keep our federal operations open and operational,” the advocate said. “Our flight regulators, VA nurses, smoke jumpers and food inspectors are not responsible for this government shutdown.”

A notable point is that members of Congress and senior White House leaders are continuing to be paid during the shutdown.