The White House’s Office of Management and Budget directed federal agencies late Wednesday to prepare reduction-in-force notices for employees in certain programs, escalating tensions as Congress faces a Sept. 30 deadline to avert a government shutdown.
The memo, obtained by the Virginia Times, instructs agencies to issue the notices for workers in discretionary programs that would lose funding on Oct. 1, lack alternative resources and do not align with President Trump’s priorities. Such actions would go beyond standard furloughs during a funding lapse.
“Thank you for your agency’s efforts to date to prepare for an orderly shutdown in the event of a lapse in appropriations,” the memo states, citing requirements under OMB Circular A-11.
It blames congressional Democrats for the impasse, accusing them of breaking a decade-long bipartisan tradition of passing continuing resolutions by Sept. 30. The House passed H.R. 5371 last week, a clean continuing resolution to fund the government through Nov. 21 at current levels. The administration supports Senate passage, but Democrats have blocked it over partisan demands, according to the memo.
Programs funded through mandatory appropriations under H.R. 1 would continue uninterrupted, the document notes. Agencies must submit any proposed reduction-in-force plans to OMB and revise them once new appropriations are enacted to retain only essential staff for statutory functions.
Democrats swiftly condemned the directive. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., described it as “an attempt at intimidation.”
“Donald Trump has been firing federal workers since day one — not to govern, but to scare,” Schumer said in a statement. “This is nothing new and has nothing to do with funding the government.” He predicted any laid-off workers would be rehired.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., posted on X: “We will not be intimidated by your threat to engage in mass firings. Get lost.”
The fiscal year ends Tuesday, leaving little time for lawmakers to pass a funding package. A Republican-backed short-term bill cleared the House but stalled in the Senate, where the GOP’s 53-seat majority requires at least seven Democratic votes to advance legislation needing 60 votes.
Democrats seek concessions, including reversing this year’s Medicaid cuts and extending health insurance tax credits. On Tuesday, Trump canceled a planned meeting with Democratic leaders, calling their demands “unserious and ridiculous” in a Truth Social post.
“I have decided that no meeting with their Congressional Leaders could possibly be productive,” he wrote.
The memo urges agencies to update lapse plans immediately, prohibiting repurposing of balances or unauthorized transfers without OMB approval. It expresses hope that Democrats will back a clean continuing resolution to avoid the shutdown.
In the last few decades, there have been infrequent federal shutdowns. They are usually resolved swiftly, but they do cause service interruptions and force workers to take time off. The last big one, which lasted 35 days from 2018 to 2019, was about financing for the border wall.
Read full memo below:
“I have decided that no meeting with their Congressional Leaders could possibly be productive.“
– President Trump on Truth Social
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