The Standing Record

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

OMB Director Vought announces 10,000+ federal shutdown layoffs, vowing to use budget lapse for permanent workforce cuts

On October 15, 2025, White House OMB Director Russell Vought publicly announced the Trump administration intended to lay off "probably north of 10,000" federal workers through reduction-in-force notices during the government shutdown, explicitly framing the budget lapse as an opportunity for permanent workforce reduction. Vought vowed to "keep those RIFs rolling throughout this shutdown, because we think it's important."

Jurisdiction
federal
Location
Washington, D.C.

Abuses documented

Actors

  • Russell Vought (Director, Office of Management and Budget)

On October 15, 2025, White House Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought announced publicly that the Trump administration expected to lay off "probably north of 10,000" federal workers through reduction-in-force notices issued during the ongoing government shutdown. Vought explicitly vowed to "keep those RIFs rolling throughout this shutdown, because we think it's important," framing the budget lapse as a deliberate opportunity for permanent federal workforce reduction. The administration had already sent RIF notices to approximately 4,200 workers on October 10, and Vought's October 15 announcement made plain that the scale would expand substantially and that the strategy was intentional — not a necessary operational consequence of a funding lapse.

Under 5 U.S.C. §§ 3502–3504, civil service reduction-in-force procedures require specific advance notice periods, "bumping rights" allowing more senior employees to displace less senior ones, and competitive-area protections against arbitrary targeting. These safeguards exist because mass terminations of career civil servants — especially those concentrated by political appointees' preferences — can hollow out agency capacity without congressional authorization. The Antideficiency Act limits executive agency operations during a lapse of appropriations but does not authorize using a shutdown to issue mass permanent separations that outlast the funding gap, nor does it suspend the procedural protections that govern workforce reductions.

U.S. District Judge Susan Illston issued a temporary restraining order later the same day, blocking the administration from issuing further RIF notices or enforcing notices already sent, and finding the shutdown firings unlawful. The court's swift action underscored that using a temporary budget lapse to conduct permanent workforce restructuring raised serious statutory and constitutional questions — and that the administration's explicit public framing of the shutdown as a vehicle for workforce cuts distinguished this from any ordinary operational necessity during a funding gap.

Why we recorded this

The Antideficiency Act and civil service reduction-in-force procedures (5 U.S.C. §§ 3502–3504) constrain how the executive branch may reduce its workforce — notice periods, bumping rights, and competitive-area procedures exist so that mass terminations cannot be weaponized for political restructuring. OMB Director Vought's explicit framing of the shutdown as an opportunity for permanent cuts — "keep those RIFs rolling throughout this shutdown, because we think it's important" — made plain that the budget lapse was being used as a substitute for ordinary personnel law. Using a temporary funding lapse to permanently dismantle agency staffing without congressional authorization erodes the legislature's role as gatekeeper of the federal workforce.

Sources

  1. Federal workforce shutdown cuts will 'probably' exceed 10,000, Vought says — PBS NewsHour primary accessed June 21, 2026
  2. Trump admin federal job cuts likely to be 'north of 10,000,' Vought says — CNBC secondary accessed June 21, 2026
  3. Russ Vought says layoffs during shutdown likely to exceed 10,000 people — The Hill secondary accessed June 21, 2026

See also