Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought speaks to members of the media in front of the White House on Thursday, July 24, 2025 in Washington, DC, USA.
Aaron Schwartz | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The Trump administration began laying off thousands of federal employees across various agencies on Friday, the 10th day of the U.S. government shutdown.
President Donald Trump told reporters in the Oval Office Friday afternoon that the number of federal employees being laid off will be “a large number.”
“It’s going to be Democratic-oriented,” Trump said, repeating his promise to target programs he thinks Democratic officials would like.
Permanent layoffs, formally known as “retrenchments,” are different from furloughs for government employees. Furloughed employees will return to work once the government shutdown ends.
The job cuts were first announced by Russell Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget.
“RIF has begun,” Vought wrote to X.
OMB quickly confirmed his tweet and said the cuts were “substantial.”
The RIF notice was addressed to officials in the Departments of Treasury, Health and Human Services, Commerce, Education, Energy, EPA, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, and Interior.
At least 4,000 federal employees have received layoff notices, with the Treasury Department and the Department of Health making the largest cuts of more than 1,100 jobs each, according to a Justice Department filing late Friday in U.S. District Court in San Francisco.
The complaint comes in response to a lawsuit filed Sept. 30 by two unions representing many federal employees, the American Federation of Government Employees and the American Federation of County, State and Municipal Employees.
The lawsuit challenges the legality of RIF, which was being threatened by the Trump administration at the time the lawsuit was filed. A hearing on the union’s request for a temporary restraining order to block the layoffs is scheduled for Wednesday in San Francisco.
“These mass layoffs are illegal and will have a devastating impact on the services that millions of Americans rely on every day,” AFSCME President Lee Sanders said in a statement.
“Federal employees, whether they are food inspectors, public safety workers, or the countless other public servants who keep America running, should not be used as bargaining chips in this administration’s political games,” Sanders said.
The layoffs began four days after National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett warned in a CNBC interview that “draconian actions could be taken” if the shutdown continues in the absence of a temporary funding deal approved by Congress.
Hassett said that when “public servants lose their jobs,” Democrats are responsible for their firings.
While many federal employees have been furloughed due to the government shutdown, permanently laying off government employees is not normal practice during a government shutdown.
“Russell Vought just fired thousands of Americans with a tweet,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York.
“Let’s be frank: No one is forcing Mr. Trump and Mr. Vought to do this,” Schumer said in a statement. “They don’t have to, they want to. They callously choose to harm people, the workers who protect our country, test our food, and respond when disasters occur. This is intentional chaos.”
“Here’s what’s even worse: Republicans would rather see thousands of Americans lose their jobs than sit down and negotiate with Democrats to reopen the government,” Schumer said.
“We strongly oppose OMB Director Russ Vought’s attempt to permanently lay off federal employees who were furloughed as a result of Senator Schumer’s completely unnecessary government shutdown,” Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said in a statement.
“Whether federal employees are working without pay or furloughed, their work is critical to serving the nation,” Collins said. “Arbitrary layoffs harm families in Maine and across our country by creating a lack of sufficient talent needed to carry out agency missions and deliver critical programs.”
Since the shutdown began last week, Vought has announced on Twitter the Trump administration’s decision to freeze or reduce billions of dollars in federal funding for projects in states and cities controlled by Democratic elected officials.
The Trump administration and Republicans in Congress have repeatedly blamed Democrats for the government shutdown and its fallout.
Democratic senators have largely refused to vote on Republicans’ stopgap funding plan to reopen the government, insisting that any such resolution must include an agreement to expand and extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits.
These tax credits reduce the cost of Obamacare health insurance plans that millions of Americans purchase from the government-run ACA Marketplace.
On Thursday, Republican and Democratic funding resolutions were fought in the Senate and failed for the seventh time.
The shutdown is expected to last until at least early next week, as the Senate is not scheduled to reopen until Tuesday.
Republicans hold majorities in both the House and Senate, but funding legislation requires the support of at least some Democratic senators, as it requires 60 votes in the Senate to avoid a filibuster.
