WASHINGTON:
The White House said on Friday that it had begun substantial layoffs across the US government, as President Donald Trump followed through on a threat to cut the federal workforce during the government shutdown.
Job cuts were underway at the Treasury Department, the US health agency and the departments of education, commerce, and Homeland Security’s cybersecurity division, spokespeople said, but the total extent of the layoffs was not immediately clear.
Roughly 300,000 federal civilian workers will leave their jobs this year due to a downsizing campaign initiated earlier this year by Trump. “The RIFs have begun,” White House budget director Russell Vought wrote on social media, referring to so-called reductions in force. A spokesperson for the budget office characterized the cuts as “substantial”, without offering further details.
Trump has repeatedly threatened to fire federal workers during the shutdown standoff, in its 10th day on Friday, and has suggested his administration will aim primarily at “Democrat agencies”.
He has ordered the freezing of at least $28 billion in infrastructure funds for New York, California and Illinois – all home to sizable populations of Democratic voters and critics of the administration. Trump’s Republicans hold majorities in both chambers of Congress, but need at least seven Democratic votes to pass a funding bill in the Senate, where Democrats are holding out for an extension of health-insurance subsidies.
Democrats said they will not cave to Trump’s pressure tactics. “Until Republicans get serious, they own this-every job lost, every family hurt, every service gutted is because of their decisions,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said.
Labor unions representing federal workers have sued to stop the layoffs, saying they would be illegal during a shutdown. A federal judge is due to hear the case on October 16.
