Documents reveal chaos and confusion behind government shutdown layoffs

"A lawsuit filed by federal worker unions alleges that firings in a shutdown are unlawful, and that the terminations have been arbitrary, and politically motivated. Federal judge Susan Illston in San Francisco blocked the firings in two separate decisions in October. The other side: The White House argues that the firings are justified by the lapse in government funding brought on by the shutdown, and that no individual was politically targeted. Zoom in: Many workers didn't initially see their reduction in force, or RIF, notices."

""On October 11, 2025, a supervisor notified me and several colleagues via text message that she had received a RIF notice," writes Christine Grassman, a 56-year-old employee at the Department of Education. "She suggested that we check our work emails to see whether we had also been RIFed." Grassman worked on a federal program that provides blind people with employment opportunities, and is herself blind. She says everyone working on that program was fired."

"RIF notices had mistakes, several workers testified in court filings. A few noted estimates of their severance pay were off, or information about their performance reviews was incorrect. The problem: They couldn't reach anyone at their agency to flag the errors. Human resource staff was on furlough, too. HR staff were called back to conduct firings, and then "ordered to RIF themselves," Illston wrote in her decision late last month."

In early October, about 4,000 federal employees received firing notices during a government shutdown while many were furloughed and unpaid. Unions filed a lawsuit alleging the terminations were unlawful, arbitrary, and politically motivated; a federal judge blocked the firings in two October decisions. The White House contends the terminations resulted from a funding lapse and denies targeted political motives. Many workers learned of RIF notices days later because notices were sent to work emails they were told not to check or could not access. Notices contained errors and HR staff were largely unavailable; some HR employees were recalled to process firings and then ordered to RIF themselves.

Read at Axios