On October 10 the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought posted on X “The RIFs have begun,” using an acronym for “reductions in force.” The list of federal departments and agencies affected by mass layoffs include Commerce, Treasury, Health and Human Services, Education, and Homeland Security departments.
Russell Vought has long promoted the idea of using a government shutdown to impose a mass layoff and included a detailed plan in the Project 2025 report. Both Vought and U.S. President Donald Trump had threatened mass layoffs if the government would have to shut down. Vought had earlier warned many federal agencies that the number of layoffs during a shutdown could be in the hundreds of thousands, but also told agencies that these numbers might need to be revised after the government reopens.
However, many senior government officials have warned that issuing RIFs during a government shutdown violates the Antideficiency Act, and that this issue has been addressed during several previous shutdowns. Nonessential federal agencies are not allowed to incur new expenses during a shutdown and the RIF process is a long and complicated operation. There are federal regulations and guidelines on how to fire an employee which are not being met.
Several unions representing federal workers already filed suit on Sept. 30 against the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Personnel Management challenging the legality of the layoffs. This suit argues that the administration has no authority or ability to administer RIFs during a shutdown. This suit is based in part on the Antideficiency Act. The suit states, “Nothing in the Antideficiency Act or any other statute authorizes RIFs of employees who work in agencies or programs with a lapse in funding. Ignoring binding federal law is arbitrary and capricious.” Unions have called for a temporary restraining order until this case is heard. One federal worker told reporters, “In a year already filled with cruel and relentless attacks on the federal workforce, this is yet another example of this administration treating us like pawns and further dehumanizing and traumatizing us.”
