The Standing Record

A daily, non-partisan record of US democratic norms — and the events that erode them.

Trump administration fires 4,200 federal workers via shutdown RIFs, wielding budget lapse as workforce reduction tool

On October 10, 2025, the tenth day of a federal government shutdown, the Trump administration began issuing reduction-in-force notices to approximately 4,200 career federal workers across seven agencies, including the CDC, CISA, EPA, and IRS. OMB Director Russell Vought announced the action on social media with "The RIFs have begun."

Jurisdiction
federal
Location
Washington, D.C.

Abuses documented

Actors

On October 10, 2025 — day ten of a federal government shutdown — the Trump administration began issuing reduction-in-force (RIF) notices to approximately 4,200 career federal workers across seven agencies. OMB Director Russell Vought announced the action on social media with "The RIFs have begun." Agencies sent layoff notices to employees at the Commerce Department (316), Education Department (466, more than 20% of remaining staff), EPA (20–30), HHS (1,100–1,200, targeting the CDC, HRSA, and AHRQ), DHS/CISA (176), HUD (442, targeting fair housing and community planning offices), and Treasury/IRS (1,446).

Federal RIF procedures under 5 U.S.C. §§ 3502–3504 impose notice requirements, competitive-area protections, and bumping rights designed to prevent mass terminations from being used as instruments of political reorganization. No previous government shutdown had triggered RIFs; the mechanism had historically applied to budget-driven reductions following congressional authorization, not to lapses in appropriations. President Trump said Friday he planned to fire "a lot" of federal workers in retaliation for the shutdown, vowing to target those "aligned with the Democratic Party," while Vought had previously framed a potential shutdown as an opportunity to leave bureaucrats "traumatically affected."

A federal judge subsequently ruled the layoffs "both illegal and in excess of authority" and driven by "political retribution," confirming that the shutdown was being used as cover to permanently restructure the federal workforce without congressional sanction. The ruling validated what the agency-by-agency targeting made plain on October 10: the RIFs were not a neutral response to a funding lapse but a deliberate exercise of executive power to dismantle agencies the administration associated with political opposition.

Why we recorded this

Federal law constrains how the executive branch may reduce its workforce — notice periods, competitive-area protections, and bumping rights under 5 U.S.C. §§ 3502–3504 exist precisely so that mass terminations cannot be used for political reorganization. No government shutdown had previously triggered reduction-in-force proceedings. OMB Director Vought's explicit framing of the shutdown as an opportunity for permanent workforce reductions made plain that the budget lapse was being used as a substitute for congressional authorization. The action eroded the civil service merit system and Congress's constitutional role as the body that determines how government is structured and funded.

Sources

  1. Substantial Layoffs Begin at Federal Agencies, White House Says — Government Executive primary accessed June 21, 2026
  2. Federal workers are being laid off as the shutdown continues — NPR primary accessed June 21, 2026
  3. Government shutdown: Federal worker firings begin as Trump vows to target those 'aligned with the Democratic Party' — CNN secondary accessed June 21, 2026
  4. Trump administration attempts large-scale federal employee layoffs during government shutdown — Economic Policy Institute investigative accessed June 21, 2026

See also