Russell Vought in contact with agencies about layoffs as shutdown continues, White House says

The White House provided no firm timetable for layoffs of federal workers as administration officials continue to blame congressional Democrats for the “intentional sabotage” of the government shutdown.

The shutdown is now in its third day. Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought told House Republicans on Thursday that layoffs would be coming in “a day or two,” but so far, no moves have been made.

Thousands of workers have been furloughed, which is typical of a government shutdown, but no layoffs or permanent firings have taken place as President Trump and his budget chief have threatened.

“The Office of Management and Budget is in constant communication and contact right now with our Cabinet secretaries and agencies across the board to identify, unfortunately, where layoffs have to be made and where cuts have to happen,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Friday. “But again, the Democrats have an opportunity to prevent this if they vote to reopen the government.”

OMB hinted last week that layoffs, and possibly more, could be coming during the government shutdown in a memo sent to agencies. Departments were directed to look for reductions in force.

The Trump administration’s layoff strategy is seen as part of the larger plan to reduce government spending.

When asked why layoffs are necessary during this shutdown when they haven’t been before, including during the 35-day shutdown in Mr. Trump’s first term, Ms. Leavitt said it’s “because we have an administration and we have a president who are wholeheartedly focused on restoring fiscal sanity to our government and doing the right thing by the American taxpayer.”

“We are $37 trillion in debt in the federal government is currently shut down. There is no more money coming into the federal government’s coffers,” she said. “And as you’ve also seen since the beginning in January, this administration is focusing on waste, fraud and abuse, and so Democrats have given this administration an unenviable choice to have to take a look at the balance sheet and identify where these cuts and layoffs can be made.”

The president has embraced the cuts of certain projects, posting a video on Truth Social depicting Mr. Vought as the Grim Reaper in an AI-created video.

Ms. Leavitt said that the president “likes to have a little fun every now and then,” when asked about the video.

“I think both things can be true at the same time, the Democrats have given the administration this opportunity, and we don’t like laying people off,” she said. “Nobody takes joy in that around here. And if you think that, then I think that’s very sad.”