With the government shutdown well into its second week, Americans -- particularly those within the federal workforce -- are beginning to feel the effects of the stalemate.
Late last week, after Democrats continued their holdout against the proposed continuing resolution that would re-open the government, the Trump administration began layoffs at a host of federal agencies, as Axios reports.
On Friday, word came down from Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russ Vought, informing government employees that the reduction-in-force (RIF) plan, of which President Donald Trump has continued to warn, was indeed going into effect, as Politico explained.
Taking to X to remove any doubt, Vought declared simply, “The RIFs have begun.
A spokesperson at OMB subsequently confirmed the situation, noting, “Can confirm RIFs have begun, and they are substantial.”
Adding to the anxiety likely sweeping across Washington, the spokesperson added, “These are RIFs not furloughs,” signifying permanent cuts rather than temporary actions stemming from the shutdown.
Trump, for his part, explained on Thursday that the cuts were targeted, saying, “We’re only cutting Democrat programs, I hate to tell you, but we are cutting Democrat programs. We will be cutting some very popular Democrat programs that aren’t popular with Republicans, frankly.”
As Axios noted, the administration revealed details of the broader RIF plan in a court filing submitted on Friday evening.
The Department of Health and Human Services, for instance, was poised to see somewhere between 1,100 and 1,200 employee layoffs, cuts poised to impact “multiple divisions” of the agency.
Roughly 176 workers within the Department of Homeland Security were set to get the axe, according to the outlet, with the agency saying, “This is part of getting CISA [Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency] back on mission.”
The Treasury Department was reportedly targeted for layoffs impacting 1,446 of its employees, with the Department of Education -- already significantly hit by Department of Government Efficiency cuts -- set to shed another 466 individuals.
Further RIFs were slated to take effect at the Environmental Protection Agency as well as the Department of Housing and Urban Development, agencies reportedly losing between 20-30 workers and 442 employees, respectively, with the Energy Department also reducing its count by 187 and the Commerce Department dropping around 315 of its staffers.
Amid the significant job cuts referenced above, however, the president took steps to make certain that what he views as Democrats’ indefensible recalcitrance on the funding impasse will not take a toll on the nation’s armed forces.
As The Hill reports, Trump on Saturday instructed Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth “to use all available funds” to ensure that service members are paid as scheduled on Oct. 15,” giving voice to a priority with which millions of Americans assuredly share.
