Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought participates in a cabinet meeting with President Trump at the White House on July 8, 2025.
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Should the government face a shutdown on October 1, the White House has indicated it intends to leverage the funding impasse to permanently reduce the federal workforce, moving beyond the traditional approach of merely furloughing employees without pay.
This strategy, described in a memo obtained by NPR, marks a departure from previous shutdowns where federal employees were simply placed on temporary unpaid leave until a budget resolution was reached.
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has informed agency leaders that a lapse in funding would provide an opportunity to issue “reduction in force” (RIF) notifications to staff involved in programs deemed inconsistent with the president’s agenda. Politico was the first to report on these developments.
Russell Vought, President Trump’s budget director, has been pushing to aggressively trim government initiatives authorized by Congress, targeting areas such as international aid, investments in electric vehicle charging stations, and funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. While Vought asserts that the executive branch holds substantial authority to manage spending, this view is contested by Democrats and the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office (GAO).
Meanwhile, House Republicans have approved a bill to maintain government funding at current levels through November 21. However, in the Senate, where a 60-vote threshold is necessary, Democrats are demanding the inclusion of several provisions, notably subsidies for Affordable Care Act insurance premiums, which are set to expire and could cause significant premium hikes for those purchasing coverage through the Obamacare marketplaces.
Schumer denounces the memo as a ‘tactic of intimidation’
Democratic leaders had planned to meet with President Trump on Thursday to discuss these issues, but the meeting was canceled by Trump, who criticized Democrats for making what he called “unrealistic and unreasonable demands.”
The White House has expressed support for the House-passed funding bill. According to the OMB memo, the issuance of layoff notices could be averted if Democrats back this legislation.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) condemned the memo late Wednesday, labeling it “an effort to intimidate.”
“This tactic is not new and is unrelated to the actual funding of the government,” Schumer stated. “These unwarranted dismissals will either be challenged successfully in court or the administration will be forced to reinstate the employees, as has happened recently.”
Democratic lawmakers face mounting pressure from their constituents to resist President Trump, especially after they supported a six-month funding bill earlier this year.
At that time, Schumer warned that a shutdown would grant Trump the discretion to selectively reopen certain departments and agencies.
This proposed approach to layoffs contrasts with the Trump administration’s tactics during his first term. In 2018, Trump declined to sign a bipartisan short-term funding bill because it lacked financing for his border wall, triggering a 35-day government shutdown-the longest in U.S. history. However, the administration sought to mitigate the impact by keeping as many government functions operational as possible and promising prompt back pay for furloughed workers.
