Federal Layoffs Amid Ongoing Government Shutdown: Impacts and Backlash

Tue Oct 21 2025 17:17:23 GMT+0300 (Eastern European Summer Time)

The Trump administration has commenced layoffs of federal workers in a maneuver linked to the current government shutdown, stirring controversy and legal challenges from labor unions.

As the Trump administration initiates a significant number of layoffs impacting over 4,000 federal workers amidst the ongoing government shutdown, the decision has sparked outrage from labor unions and raised questions about legality. Key agencies such as Treasury and Health and Human Services are among those announcing reductions, while unions challenge the administration's actions in court, arguing that the layoffs are a misuse of the shutdown as a political tool. This unprecedented move has ignited further division between Democrats and Republicans, as the shutdown highlights deeper issues surrounding federal funding and workforce management.

The Trump administration has begun laying off thousands of federal workers in an effort to pressure Democrats amid the ongoing government shutdown. The RIFs have begun, White House Office of Management Director Russell Vought announced in a post on X on Friday morning, referring to an acronym for reductions in force.

A spokesman for his office confirmed the cuts had started and were substantial. Their size and scope began coming into focus later on Friday, when the administration disclosed seven agencies had started laying off more than 4,000 workers.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to use the shutdown to further his long-held goal of reducing the federal workforce. By law, the federal government must give its workers at least 30-days notice that it is laying them off.

After Vought's tweet, major departments such as Treasury and Health and Human Services (HHS) confirmed they were issuing notices to employees, and Homeland Security, where many of its employees are considered essential, said it would lay off workers at its Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. But exact details were scarce.

Two major unions, the American Federation of Government Employees and AFL-CIO, had filed a lawsuit challenging the legality of Vought's announced plans to carry out layoffs during the shutdown. On Friday, once he said the process had begun, they asked a federal court in Northern California to temporarily block the move.

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, AFGE president Everett Kelley said.

In its opposition to the temporary restraining order, lawyers for the OMB revealed which agencies and how many of their employees would be affected first, indicating an estimated 4,600 employees would receive RIF notices starting on Friday.

More than a quarter of the cuts would be made at the Treasury Department, where notices were being sent to approximately 1,446 employees. HHS was notifying between 1,100 and 1,200 employees, and cuts were also expected at other agencies.

The layoffs are unprecedented as previous shutdowns allowed furloughed employees to return to work retroactively. The current shutdown, which began due to a funding impasse, has affected about 40% of the federal workforce.

As Democrats demand a resolution that preserves vital health care funding, tensions escalate, framing the shutdown as not only a budgetary issue but a test of political wills.