White House plans for layoffs amid shutdown

by Sylvan Lane - 10/01/25 4:59 PM ET

Business & Economy

The Big Story

Federal layoffs day or two away, says budget director

Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought told House Republicans in a Wednesday call that layoffs of federal workers will be coming in a day or two, according to sources on the call.

The call came on day one of a government shutdown as Democrats in Congress have rejected a short-term Republican funding plan and are making demands like extending enhanced ObamaCare tax credits.

Vought hinted at the layoffs in a memo last week — as the government shutdown loomed — that directed agencies to “use this opportunity to consider reduction in force (RIF) notices for all employees in programs, projects, or activities” that met certain conditions in a shutdown.

That memo was widely seen as an attempt to further pressure Democrats into voting for Republicans’ bill to avert a shutdown.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters in a briefing shortly after Wednesday’s call that the layoffs to federal workers are happening in “two days, imminent, very soon.”

Read more here.

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