The Interior Department is taking steps to implement layoffs

"Exactly which employees will be targeted in the cuts remains unclear, though the impacts are expected to be felt across the department's bureaus. The layoffs are expected in mid-October, according to four people briefed on the plans, although the exact timing is still being worked out and could change or be disrupted by a government shutdown that would begin Oct. 1 absent congressional action. Lists of employees to be laid off are currently being completed, they said, though final decisions are still subject to change."

"The layoffs currently under consideration are expected to be significant, according to three individuals briefed on the plans, potentially doubling the losses Interior has sustained so far and bringing the total reductions at the department to more than one-third of staff that were on board when President Trump took office. The department did not respond to questions seeking clarity on its RIF plans."

Human resources personnel at the Interior Department have begun finalizing reduction-in-force plans and meeting to complete layoff lists, with meetings continuing through the weekend and into this week. The identities of targeted employees remain unclear, but cuts are expected across bureaus and are tentatively planned for mid-October, with timing subject to change and possible disruption from a potential government shutdown on Oct. 1. A prior May layoff effort was blocked by a federal judge and later reinstated by the Supreme Court in July. Recent incentivized retirements and a deferred resignation program already reduced staffing by about 7,500 employees; new layoffs could double those losses and push total reductions past one-third of staff since the start of the Trump administration.

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