‘The RIFs Have Begun’: Trump Administration Starts Layoffs Amid Shutdown

The Trump administration has started sending out layoff notices to thousands of federal workers as the partial government shutdown goes on for more than a week. The biggest layoffs are happening at the Treasury Department and Health and Human Services. According to NPR, government attorneys stated in a court filing late on Friday that more than 4,000 workers had been targeted in at least seven Cabinet agencies. The letters usually say that the personnel would be separated within 30 to 60 days.

In addition to the Justice Department’s submission to a federal judge in California, where unions are trying to stop the layoffs, there were also reports that gave numbers for each department. The Treasury has about 1,446 jobs, and HHS has up to 1,200. The New York Post says that Education eliminated 466 jobs, Housing and Urban Development cut 442, Commerce cut 315, Energy cut 187, and Homeland Security reduced 176.

The filing also said that the Environmental Protection Agency was taking minor steps and that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office was sending out alerts about shutdowns.

Russell Vought, the White House budget director, said on social media, “The RIFs have begun,” and unions and agencies confirmed that they had received notices. According to NPR, the administration told the court that a temporary restraining order is not needed because job losses would happen weeks from now under the law. Next Monday, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston will hold a hearing on the unions’ request.

According to NPR, HHS spokesman Andrew Nixon stated that staff in several departments were being told about the shutdown and that those duties were not necessary during the shutdown. Some IRS employees at the Treasury Department posted layoff notices online that listed IT jobs that were going to be cut. HUD’s union said it got a “notice of intent to fire” and is talking to a lawyer about what to do next.

The New York Post says that within DHS, earlier planning documents expected bigger losses at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. They are still thinking about making broader cuts to the workforce. NPR reports that when asked how many jobs may be affected, President Donald Trump said the amount “will be a lot” and blamed Democrats for delaying a short-term funding package. Unions said the decision was against the law and warned that the cuts would hurt important services all around the country.

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