Topline
The Trump administration has started laying off federal workers, making good on its threats to make permanent cuts during the government shutdown, budget chief Russ Vought said Friday.
President Donald Trump returns to the White House after visiting Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on October 10, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Anna Rose Layden/Getty Images)
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Key facts
“The RIFs [reductions in force] have begun,” Vought wrote on X Friday, while the Office of Management and Budget said this several sockets the layoffs are said to be “substantial.”
The Department of Health and Human Services said STAT news the layoffs affected the agency, although it is unclear which other agencies would be affected.
The layoffs come as the government shutdown will last at least until Tuesday, when the Senate will next vote, with no sign that either party is willing to negotiate a spending plan to reopen the government.
The Trump administration warned it will punish Democrats for refusing to vote for the Republican bill that would lift the shutdown, with Trump saying Thursday “we are going to make cuts that are going to be permanent, and we are only going to make cuts to the Democrats’ programs.”
The White House previously told federal agencies to prepare for mass layoffs by identifying programs with funding that would expire during a shutdown, warning that those “inconsistent” with Trump’s policy priorities would be targeted for the layoffs.
Chief critic
The American Federation of Government Employees, the largest federal employee union representing 800,000 workers, said on X that it has sued the government in response to Vought.
What we don’t know
Exactly which ministries will be targeted, or how many people will ultimately lose their jobs.
Important background
The Trump administration has already tried to make massive cuts to the federal government this year in an effort to reduce what Trump and his allies say is red tape. Some of the layoffs carried out by the Department of Government Efficiency, formerly led by Elon Musk, have been reversed or blocked in court. Nonessential government workers were laid off when the shutdown began on Oct. 1, and federal employees received partial paychecks Friday, only for the days they worked before the shutdown. The paychecks will be their last until the government reopens.
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