The U.S. Capitol Building is shown in Washington, D.C., home to the United States Congress and seat of the legislative branch of government. Photo by Ramaz Bluashvili, Pexels.

News Release

WASHINGTON — As the federal government shutdown enters its fourth week, hundreds of thousands of employees across the country are facing growing financial hardship and new uncertainty following a wave of layoffs announced by the Trump administration.

The shutdown began Wednesday, Oct. 1 after Democrats rejected a short-term funding bill that excluded an extension of federal health insurance subsidies under the Affordable Care Act. Pres. Donald Trump and Republican leaders have said the government must reopen before any negotiations on health subsidies can continue.

The Office of Management and Budget confirmed in a court filing Friday, Oct. 10 that more than 4,000 federal workers across eight departments and agencies have been terminated as part of a reduction-in-force plan. Administration officials said the cuts are aimed at downsizing government, though labor unions argue the layoffs are being used as political leverage.

Federal employees from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Social Security Administration and the National Labor Relations Board are among those affected. Union representatives said many workers are living paycheck to paycheck and are struggling to cover rent, utilities and other basic expenses.

Labor unions, including the American Federation of Government Employees and the National Treasury Employees Union, have filed lawsuits to block the dismissals.

Leaders said workers are being unfairly used as “political pawns” in the standoff between the White House and Congress.

The Trump administration briefly warned that federal workers might not receive back pay once the shutdown ends, though the president later reversed that stance. With little progress toward a funding deal, union officials and affected employees are urging lawmakers to prioritize the needs of workers as frustration and financial strain deepen nationwide.

San-Francisco-based federal judge Susan Illston ordered a pause on shutdown-related layoffs Wednesday, Oct. 15, but court documents filed Monday, Oct. 20 by the Department of Interior regarding the pause – which also names 2,050 Interior positions marked for termination – says all Interior layoffs were proposed or planned before the shutdown.

“As previously declared,” reads the filing, “any (reductions in force) contemplated or planned by Interior predated the Wednesday, Oct. 1, lapse in appropriations and were in no way motivated by or pursuant to the Wednesday, Sept. 24, Office of Management and Budget or Sunday, Sept. 28, Office of Personnel Management guidance on RIFs during a lapse in appropriations.”

Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought said Wednesday, Oct. 15 on a Charlie Kirk Show broadcast that the Trump administration could fire 10,000 federal employees during the government shutdown.

“We think it’s important to stay on offense for the American taxpayer,” Vought said. “I think we’ll probably end up being north of 10,000.”