Trump Administration Plans Federal Employee Terminations Amid Shutdown Uncertainty
The Office of Management and Budget Director, Russell Vought, informed House Republicans that the Trump administration plans to start terminating federal employees within the next one to two days. Vought's memo from last week warned of potential mass firings in the federal workforce in case of a shutdown, attributing the layoffs to Democrats' actions. The memo instructed agencies to consider issuing reduction in force (RIF) notices to employees in programs without funding aligned with the President's priorities.
During a virtual call with House Republicans, Vought also raised concerns about the Women Infants and Children (WIC) nutrition program running out of funds by next week if the government remains shut down. The National WIC Association confirmed this timeline, indicating that funding could be depleted within a week or two. The call also addressed the suspension of military pay and the partial operation of national parks during the shutdown.
Following the Senate's rejection of both Democratic and Republican proposals to fund the government, the shutdown commenced at 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday. With a bipartisan vote of at least 60 senators required to advance any funding bill, the parties' failure to reach a consensus on a stopgap funding measure led to the shutdown. The Senate's 53-47 Republican majority necessitates bipartisan support for funding legislation to pass.