The Trump administration began implementing plans to downsize the federal workforce on Friday amid the government shutdown, following through on the president’s vow to use the closure to target agencies and employees he has long sought to cut.
“The RIFs have begun,” Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought wrote in a terse post on X, referring to “reductions in force.”
“It will be a lot of people,” Trump said Friday when asked how many layoffs Vought authorized, adding that the reductions in force will be “Democrat orientated.”
Friday’s layoffs appeared to fall heavily on programs whose missions diverge from the administration’s policy agenda, according to several federal employees who were not authorized to speak publicly. The layoffs included a Health and Human Services division centered on family and community initiatives, a Housing and Urban Development office that enforces fair housing standards, and an Education Department team devoted to boosting K–12 academic performance, multiple staffers said.
Reductions in force are underway across several agencies, including the Departments of Treasury, Commerce, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, and Energy; the Environmental Protection Agency; and the Department of Education, with additional agencies potentially affected, according to agency officials and employees who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
According to a filing submitted Friday in the Northern District of California, the government said approximately 1,446 Treasury employees, 1,100 to 1,200 Health and Human Services employees, 466 Education employees, 442 Housing and Urban Development employees, 315 Commerce employees, 187 Energy employees, and 176 Homeland Security employees began receiving RIF notices tied to the lapse in appropriations on October 10.
A senior administration official told the Washington Examiner the figures listed in the court filing do not represent the full scope of the reductions. The filing, the official said, reflects only “a snapshot in time” and captures where the process stood when it was submitted to the court. The total number of RIFs, the official added, “will be significantly higher” once all agencies report their layoffs. Agency statements and internal notices reviewed by the Washington Examiner also suggest the cuts are expected to increase and reach across much of the federal bureaucracy, a sign that Trump intends to make good on his threat to use the shutdown as leverage to shrink the government.
No prior government shutdown has resulted in mass layoffs. Traditionally, shutdowns have meant widespread furloughs, with employees returning to work once funding is restored. A law enacted during Trump’s first term guarantees those furloughed workers back pay, but the administration has recently signaled it may seek ways to sidestep that requirement.
The Treasury Department appears to be among the hardest hit, with officials confirming layoffs were underway across multiple bureaus, including the Internal Revenue Service, the department’s largest component, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.
At the Department of Homeland Security, officials began issuing RIF notices within the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. A DHS spokesperson said the move was designed to “get CISA back on mission” after what they described as years of drift under the prior administration. A source familiar with the plans called the reductions “major.”
The Environmental Protection Agency also began workforce cuts, citing alignment with the president’s “priority programs” and projected funding levels. One furlough memo reviewed by the Washington Examiner said the changes would “deliver organizational improvements” to better serve the public. An EPA spokesperson blamed congressional Democrats for the layoffs, while critics outside the agency called the actions politically motivated.
At the Department of Health and Human Services, over 1,000 employees are expected to be laid off across several divisions, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Health Resources and Services Administration, and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Department spokesman Andrew Nixon said the reductions were the result of the “Democrat-led government shutdown” and targeted employees classified as “non-essential.” Nearly half of the department’s 80,000 workers are currently furloughed, and the agency previously dismissed about 10,000 employees earlier this year. Nixon said the cuts were part of efforts to “close wasteful and duplicative entities” in line with the administration’s Make America Healthy Again initiative.
The Department of Education confirmed that layoffs began on Friday, but did not disclose how many employees were affected. Earlier in the year, the agency eliminated roughly one-third of its workforce.
At the Department of Housing and Urban Development, staff in the Office of Community Planning and Development and in regional Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity offices were informed of layoffs, according to an employee familiar with the matter. The department confirmed a “reduction in force to align our programs with the Administration’s priorities and appropriations available to the department,” but has not disclosed how many workers are affected.
The American Federation of Government Employees has filed suit challenging the administration’s reduction-in-force plans. Earlier this week, a federal judge in the Northern District of California ordered the government to disclose “the status of any currently planned or in-progress RIF notices to be issued during or because of the government shutdown, including the earliest date those notices will go out,” by Friday.
By the time Vought announced the dismissals, the administration had not yet provided that information. Shortly after his post, union attorneys filed an emergency request seeking an immediate halt to any layoffs ahead of the impending hearing.
Lawmakers from both parties swiftly denounced the administration’s move.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), who chairs the Appropriations Committee, also voiced opposition, saying she “strongly opposed” the reductions. “Arbitrary layoffs result in a lack of sufficient personnel needed to conduct the mission of the agency and to deliver essential programs, and cause harm to families in Maine and throughout our country,” Collins said.
Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, said the layoffs amounted to political gamesmanship. “A shutdown does not give Trump or Vought new, special powers to cause more chaos or permanently weaken more basic services for the American people,” Murray said, “and the simple fact is this administration has been recklessly firing—and rehiring—essential workers all year. This is nothing new, and no one should be intimidated by these crooks.”
WHITE HOUSE ANNOUNCES FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WORKER LAYOFFS HAVE BEGUN
Any RIF notices issued in the next several days are expected to include a 60-day warning before any terminations take effect. Although administration officials have described the reductions as permanent, OMB has instructed agencies that their layoff plans can be adjusted once the government reopens.