Trump starts DOGE 2.0 as mass layoffs take place across federal government amid shutdown
Donald Trump began his promised mass purge of federal workers on Friday, laying off more than 4,100 people as the government shutdown looms.
The president previewed the pink slips at a news conference in the Oval Office early Friday, blaming them and the shutdown on Democrats.
‘It’s going to be very much and it’s going to be Democrat driven because we think they started this thing. “There will be a lot of people, thanks to the Democrats,” Trump said.
This is the largest series of government layoffs since Elon Musk’s DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) purge at the beginning of Trump’s second term.
Mass layoffs of federal employees have begun in an effort to put more pressure on Democratic lawmakers as the government shutdown continues, the White House budget office said Friday.
Russ Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget, said on social platform
The White House anticipated implementing the aggressive layoff tactic shortly before the government shutdown began on Oct. 1 and told all federal agencies to submit their current reduction plans to the budget office for review.
The reduction in force may apply to federal programs that would cease to be funded in the event of a government shutdown, are otherwise unfunded, and are ‘not consistent with the President’s priorities.’
Donald Trump began his promised mass purge of federal workers on Friday, laying off more than 4,100 people as the government shutdown looms
Mass layoffs of federal employees have begun in an effort to put more pressure on Democratic lawmakers as the government shutdown continues, the White House budget office said Friday. Image: A USAID employee carries her belongings after being fired during the Elon Musk-led DOGE purge in February
In a court filing, the budget office said more than 4,000 employees would be laid off but noted that the funding situation was “evolving fluidly and quickly.”
Layoffs will hit Treasury departments hardest, which will lose more than 1,400 employees; Health and Human Services, with over 1,100 casualties; and Housing and Urban Development will experience losses of over 400.
The departments of Commerce, Education, Energy and the Homeland Security and Environmental Protection Agency were preparing to lay off hundreds more employees. It was unclear which programs would be affected.
The aggressive push by Trump’s budget office goes far beyond what typically occurs during government shutdowns and further escalates an already politically toxic dynamic between the White House and Congress.
Talks to end the shutdown are almost non-existent.
Typically, federal employees are furloughed, but once the shutdown ends, they traditionally return to work with back pay.
About 750,000 employees are expected to be furloughed during the shutdown, officials said.
Going forward, Trump said, ‘We’ll make a decision, are we asking for too much? And I have to say, a lot of this is Democrat-focused.’
‘These are the people that Democrats want and in many cases are unsuitable,’ he said of federal employees, adding finally: ‘A lot of them will be fired.’
This is the largest series of government layoffs since Elon Musk’s DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) purge early in Trump’s second term
Layoffs will hit Treasury departments hardest, which will lose more than 1,400 employees; Health and Human Services, with over 1,100 casualties; and Housing and Urban Development, facing losses of more than 400
Still, some prominent Republicans have been highly critical of the administration’s actions.
Maine Sen. Susan Collins, chair of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, blamed the federal shutdown on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, saying, “I strongly oppose OMB Director Russ Vought’s attempt to permanently lay off federal employees furloughed by a completely unnecessary government shutdown.”
Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski called the announcement ‘badly timed’ and ‘yet another example of this administration’s punitive actions against the federal workforce.’
Schumer said that the responsibility for the layoffs belonged to Trump.
“Let’s be clear: Nobody is forcing Trump and Vought to do this,” Schumer said.
‘They don’t have to do this; they want. They callously choose to harm people, the workers who protect our country, inspect our food, and intervene when disasters occur. This is deliberate chaos.’
The White House previewed its tactics shortly before the Oct. 1 government shutdown began, telling all federal agencies to submit their current reduction plans to the budget office for review.
He said the mitigation plans could apply to federal programs that would cease to be funded in the event of a government shutdown, are otherwise unfunded, and “are not consistent with the President’s priorities.”
The Ministry of Education is among the institutions affected by the new layoffs, a ministry spokesman said on Friday.
Russ Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget, said on social platform
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer says Trump is responsible for layoffs
A labor union for agency employees said the administration laid off nearly all employees below the director level in the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, while fewer than 10 employees were terminated in the department’s Department of Communications and Outreach.
Layoff notices were also filed with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which leads federal efforts to reduce risks to the nation’s cyber and physical infrastructure, according to DHS, which houses CISA.
The agency has been a frequent target of Trump for its work to counter misinformation about the 2020 presidential election and the COVID-19 pandemic. DHS said the layoffs were ‘part of reinstating CISA.’
Federal health care workers were also being laid off, but an HHS spokeswoman did not say how many or which agencies were hardest hit.
A spokesman for the EPA, which has an unspecified number of layoffs, blamed Democrats for the layoffs and said they could vote to reopen the government whenever they want.
The Treasury Department is preparing to issue layoff notices to 1,300 employees, an official with the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents federal employees and is suing the Trump administration over the layoffs, said in a legal filing Friday.
AFGE asked a federal judge to halt the layoffs, calling the action an abuse of power designed to punish workers and pressure Congress.
“It is shameful that the Trump administration used the government shutdown as an excuse to illegally lay off thousands of workers who provide critical services to communities across the country,” AFGE President Everett Kelley said in a statement.
Democrats tried to call the administration’s bluff by suggesting the layoffs might be illegal, and they appeared bolstered by the fact that the White House did not immediately begin layoffs after the shutdown began.
However, Trump signaled earlier this week that layoffs could come in “four or five days.”
“It’s going to be significant if this continues, and most of these jobs will never come back,” he said Tuesday.
