Trump administration signals more mass firings of federal workers if government shuts down

"If the government shuts down on Wednesday, many more federal workers could permanently lose their jobs. That's the implication of a new memo to federal agency heads from President Donald Trump's Office of Management and Budget, obtained by BI on Thursday. The memo directs agency heads to "consider" reduction-in-force notices for employees in programs that are "not consistent with the President's priorities" and that will lose funding if the government shuts down."

""We remain hopeful that Democrats in Congress will not trigger a shutdown and the steps outlined above will not be necessary," the memo concludes. It's unclear how many workers could be affected by potential reductions in force. The Trump administration has already fired hundreds of thousands of federal workers in this same manner, including via DOGE, and the Supreme Court gave them the green light to do so in July. This week, the administration moved to rehire some of those same employees."

A new OMB memo instructs agency heads to consider reduction-in-force notices for employees in programs that would lose funding during a government shutdown and that are not consistent with presidential priorities. The memo expresses hope that Democrats will not trigger a shutdown but signals possible mass firings if funding lapses. The administration previously conducted large-scale firings through similar measures and later began rehiring some employees. Government funding expires after September 30. House Republicans passed a funding bill that stalled in the Senate, while Democrats demand negotiations and policy reversals as conditions for support.

Read at Business Insider