Shutdown Layoffs Threat Shows Limit of GOP's Fear Tactics

"But as the two parties drift toward a government shutdown in five days, with no negotiations in sight, Vought has now thumbed his nose at the Democrats, all precedents, and congressional authority over the federal government by announcing that agencies disfavored by the administration will have massive "reductions in force" if funding runs out on September 30. These RIFs would have the effect of turning the temporary furloughs of "nonessential" federal employees that typically accompany a shutdown into permanent layoffs,"

"This legally shaky directive builds on earlier OMB instructions to federal agencies to prepare RIF plans to terminate as many as 30 percent of their employees, and in some cases, on DOGE assessments of unnecessary programs and personnel. For the most part, the RIFs haven't materialized, and in some cases, agencies have even hired back employees chased off by the kiddie software warriors of DOGE, which has itself largely given way to Trump-appointed agency heads and OMB."

Democrats refuse to accept a clean continuing resolution because of repeated lawless power grabs by the Trump administration and OMB director Russell Vought. The Democratic counterproposal demands reversal and forswearing of Vought's spending clawbacks. Vought has ordered agencies disfavored by the administration to prepare for massive reductions in force if funding lapses, converting typical temporary shutdown furloughs into permanent layoffs targeted to advance the president's priorities. OMB previously instructed agencies to plan RIFs that could terminate as many as 30 percent of employees and used DOGE assessments to identify unnecessary programs. Some agencies briefly reversed or rehired after earlier RIF efforts, but those efforts are reemerging.

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