Trump fulfills threat to fire federal workers as shutdown hits day 11. Live updates

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump's administration made good on a threat to fire thousands of federal workers, with agencies sending "reduction in force" notifications to federal workers heading into the weekend. Trump had threatened mass firings for almost two weeks, if Democrats did not agree to his terms to fund the government, when his administration pulled the trigger on the eleventh day of the federal shutdown.The president said the layoffs hit "Democrat-oriented" areas of the government, without saying how many people had been fired. "It will be a lot of people, all because of the Democrats," Trump told reporters on Oct. 10 in the Oval Office, as he tried to pin the blame for the shutdown on the opposing political party. The Trump administration said about 4,000 federal workers had so far received RIF notices. The figure was detailed in a court document the Justice Department submitted in response to a lawsuit from unions representing government workers. But additional layoffs are coming, a senior administration official told USA TODAY. The firings came under criticism from Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican from Maine who is up for reelection next year. "Regardless of whether federal employees have been working without pay or have been furloughed, their work is incredibly important to serving the public," Collins said in a statement. "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.” Follow along with TRENDING NEWS USA for live updates. Why did the U.S. government shut down? Democrats and Republicans cannot agree on passing a bill funding government services through October, resulting in a shutdown. But the specific reason for the 11-day deadlock is a battle over federal subsidies for health insurance.

Trump administration begins laying off federal workers amid shutdown

The Trump administration began laying off federal workers Friday as the government shutdown stretched into its 10th day, fulfilling threats from President Donald Trump to take advantage of the closure to shave off more parts of the federal workforce he dislikes. “The RIFs have begun,” White House budget director Russell Vought posted on X on Friday afternoon, using an acronym for reductions in force. The administration told a federal judge in California on Friday night that seven agencies — Commerce, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Homeland Security and Treasury — had issued RIF notices to a total of more than 4,100 workers. Lawyers for the government added that the Environmental Protection Agency had also told about 20 to 30 employees that they might be affected by a RIF in the future and other agencies are “actively considering whether to conduct additional RIFs related to the ongoing lapse in appropriations,” according to the court filing.Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Friday that the administration deliberately moved to lay off “people that the Democrats want.” “It’ll be Democrat-oriented because we figure, you know, they started this thing,” he said. “So they should be Democrat-oriented. It’ll be a lot.” As the dismissals unfurled Friday, they did appear to mostly target offices that do work typically out of line with Trump administration priorities, including a unit within the Department of Health and Human Services focused on family and community policy and an office focused on fair and equal housing within the Department of Housing and Urban Development, according to several federal employees familiar with the matter, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly. Also nixed was an Education Department division focused on improving academic achievement for K-12 students, a half-dozen staffers said.Employees will have at least 30 days, and many will have at least 60 days, before any dismissals take effect, according to federal guidance. The shutdown layoffs are the culmination of years of groundwork laid by Vought, an architect of the Project 2025 playbook for Trump’s second term, which outlined a drastically reduced federal bureaucracy. Vought’s office had threatened mass dismissals during the shutdown, perhaps even stretching into the hundreds of thousands, but it also told agencies that layoff plans might need to be revised after the government reopens. Trump told reporters before the shutdown that he might fire “a lot” of people, and once the shutdown began, Vice President JD Vance and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt likewise indicated that cuts were coming. The size of the federal workforce is unrelated to the government’s ability to pay its bills during a shutdown, though White House officials have falsely suggested otherwise. The Washington Post previously reported that the dismissals were likely to total fewer than 16,000. The layoffs run counter to recent internal warnings from senior government officials that such dismissals are legally questionable. In the first days of the shutdown, officials privately counseled agencies against conducting reductions in force while the government lacks funding, because it would probably violate the law, The Post reported this month.

White House lays off thousands of US government workers, blaming shutdown

https://www.effectivegatecpm.com/smneqtyfy?key=eb36535603c0a164cebd07a10358287b

 Trump administration begins layoffs amid government shutdown

Layoffs hit Treasury, HHS, Commerce, Education, Homeland Security

Federal judge to hear union lawsuit against layoffs during shutdown

More than 4,200 workers said to be affected

WASHINGTON, Oct 10 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Friday blamed Democrats for his decision to lay off thousands of workers across the U.S. government as he followed through on his threat to cut the federal workforce during the government shutdown.

Job cuts were under way at the Treasury Department, the U.S. health agency, the Internal Revenue Service and the departments of education, commerce, and Homeland Security's cybersecurity division, spokespeople said, but the total extent of the layoffs was not immediately clear. Roughly 300,000 federal civilian workers had already been set to leave their jobs this year due to a downsizing campaign initiated earlier this year by Trump.

"They started this thing," Trump told reporters during an event in the Oval Office, calling the job cuts "Democrat-oriented."

Trump's Republicans hold majorities in both chambers of Congress, but need Democratic votes in the U.S. Senate to pass any measure that would fund the government.

Democrats are holding out for an extension of health-insurance subsidies, arguing health costs will increase dramatically for many of the 24 million Americans who get their coverage through the Affordable Care Act.

Trump has repeatedly threatened to fire federal workers during the shutdown standoff, in its 10th day on Friday, and has suggested his administration will aim primarily at parts of the government championed by Democrats.

Trump has also ordered the freezing of at least $28 billion in infrastructure funds for New York, California and Illinois - all home to sizable populations of Democratic voters and critics of the administration

The Justice Department said in a court filing more than 4,200 federal employees had gotten layoff notices at seven agencies, including more than 1,400 at the Treasury Department and at least 1,100 at the Department of Health and Human Services.

DEMOCRATS SAY THEY WON'T RELENT

Democrats said they will not cave to Trump's pressure tactics.

"Until Republicans get serious, they own this - every job lost, every family hurt, every service gutted is because of their decisions," Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said.

Labor unions representing federal workers have sued to stop the layoffs, saying they would be illegal during a shutdown.

The administration said in a Friday court filing that the unions' request should be denied because they lack the legal right to sue over federal personnel decisions.

A federal judge is due to hear the case on October 15.

The government is required by law to give workers 60 days' notice ahead of any layoffs, though that can be shortened to 30 days.

Some Republicans objected to the layoffs, including Senator Susan Collins, the chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

"Regardless of whether federal employees have been working without pay or have been furloughed, their work is incredibly important to serving the public," Collins said in a statement.

TARGETING FURLOUGHED WORKERS

Earlier in the day, White House budget director Russell Vought wrote on social media that: "The RIFs had begun," referring to so-called reductions in force. A spokesperson for the budget office characterized the cuts as "substantial," without offering further details.

The announcement came on the same day that many federal workers were due to get reduced paychecks that do not include any pay for the days since the shutdown began. Hundreds of thousands have been ordered not to report to work, while others have been ordered to keep working without pay. The nation's 2 million active-duty troops will miss their October 15 paycheck entirely if the shutdown is not resolved before then.

Employees across multiple divisions of the Department of Health and Human Services have received layoff notices, communications director Andrew Nixon said. The 78,000 workers at the sprawling agency monitor disease outbreaks, fund medical research, and perform a wide range of other health-related duties.

Nixon said the layoffs were targeted at agency staff who have been ordered not to work, but did not provide further details. Roughly 41% of agency staff have been furloughed.

Layoffs have also begun at the Treasury Department, according to a spokesperson who requested anonymity.

A labor union official, Thomas Huddleston of the American Federation of Government Employees, said in a court filing he had been told Treasury was preparing 1,300 layoff notices. Those layoffs could hit the tax-collecting Internal Revenue Service, which has been targeted for steep job cuts this year. Some 46% of the agency's 78,000 employees were furloughed on Wednesday.

Layoffs have also begun at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the union said.

Officials also confirmed job cuts at the Education Department, which Trump has vowed to shutter completely, and the Commerce Department, which handles weather forecasting, economic data reports, and other tasks.

Other media outlets reported layoffs at the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Energy and the Department of Interior. Spokespeople at those agencies did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The Department of Homeland Security said layoffs were taking place at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which incurred Trump's wrath after the 2020 election when its director said there was no evidence voting systems were compromised. Trump falsely claims that he lost that election to Democrat Joe Biden due to voter fraud.

The Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration are not affected, according to a source familiar with the situation.