Mass federal layoffs: Which are the worst hit departments in the US? Details here
The Trump administration has begun laying off federal workers during the government shutdown.
The Trump administration has begun laying off federal workers during the government shutdown, led by Director of the United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Russell Vought. The much-promised layoffs have hit several departments in the US very hard.
Two unions representing government workers have now moved to prevent the administration from pursuing any more layoffs. A Wall Street Journal report claimed that legal filings indicated around 4,000 federal workers would be cut across several agencies.
Read More | Government shutdown update: How many federal workers could lose jobs? White House answers
US President Donald Trump said on Truth Social earlier this month that he had met with Vought to discuss “which of the many Democrat Agencies, most of which are a political SCAM, he recommends to be cut, and whether or not those cuts will be temporary or permanent.” He later also shared an AI-generated clip of Vought as the “reaper” with a parody of Blue Oyster Cult’s “(Don't Fear) the Reaper” in an attempt to tease Democrats about the upcoming layoffs. At the time, many feared that the cuts could target employees based on voter registration.
Which departments have been hit with the biggest cuts?
Trump recently said that many would lose their jobs in the new round of federal layoffs. He said that focus will be on “Democrat-oriented areas” and that “it’ll be a lot, and we’ll announce the numbers over the next couple of days.”
According to the Wall Street Journal, the biggest cuts would hit the Treasury Department, in which 1,400 employees were potentially targeted. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) might end up losing between 1,100 and 1,200 employees. Meanwhile, as many as 400 employees could be cut from the Education Department (ED) and Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
Read More | JD Vance warns 'deeper' cuts ahead for federal workers as shutdown enters 12th day
During the second Trump administration, the ED had already been hit hard, witnessing a drop from 4,100 employees in January to around 2,500 by the beginning of the government shutdown. Meanwhile, a Facebook group titled the Alt National Park Service, which calls itself the “official ‘Resistance’ team of U.S. National Park Service,” said in a recent post that over 5,000 federal employees received layoff notices.
The American Federation of Government Employees is now suing the Trump administration over the layoffs. An official with the group said in a court filing that the Treasury Department is planning to issue layoff notices to about 1,300 employees, as reported by Newsweek.
Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, slammed Trump’s move as “disgraceful.” “It is disgraceful that the Trump administration has used the government shutdown as an excuse to illegally fire thousands of workers who provide critical services to communities across the country,” Kelley said.
Pause on some layoffs
An October 17 NPR report revealed that the Trump administration has said it has paused work on a small share of the roughly 4,000 mass layoffs announced since October 1, so as to comply with a court order. This includes over 400 Department of Housing and Urban Development employees, 465 Education Department staff and 102 people with the Census Bureau, per recent court filings.
The court filing came amid a legal fight between the administration, and federal employee unions the American Federation of Government Employees and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. The unions had sued to block "politically driven RIFs," or reductions in force.
US District Judge Susan Illston in the Northern District of California has granted the unions a temporary restraining order (TRO). This has halted some layoffs announced on October 1o, and also blocked new firings until another hearing is held on October 28 to consider an indefinite pause. Illston even demanded that the government provide the court with "an accounting of all RIFs, actual or imminent, that are enjoined by this TRO."
