White House tells agencies to prepare for mass layoffs, firings if there is a shutdown next week

The White House’s budget office has sent a memo to federal agencies telling them to prepare for mass layoffs in case Congress fails to pass a spending bill and the government shuts down on Wednesday.

The memo from the Office of Management and Budget raises the stakes for Democrats, putting federal employees’ livelihoods at risk if they don’t support Republican measures to keep the government open.

When asked about potentially firing scores of government workers, Mr. Trump quickly blamed the Democrats.

Congressional Democrats are demanding the spending bill undo the One Big Beautiful Bill law that bars illegal immigrants and some able-bodied adults from Medicaid. They also demand a continuation of Obamacare subsidies that were expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic and set to expire at the end of this year.

“This is all caused by the Democrats. They asked us to do something that’s totally unreasonable. They never change. People who entered our country illegally​, [Democrats] want to give them massive federal money, and we don’t want to do that because it means everyone is going to just keep pouring in,” Mr. Trump said.

In the memo, sent late Wednesday, the White House told the agencies to put together “reduction in force” plans, signaling the administration is planning to go beyond the traditional furloughing of federal employees and fire them.

“With respect to those Federal programs whose funding would lapse and which are otherwise unfunded such programs are no longer statutorily required to be carried out,” the memo. “RIF notices will be in addition to any furlough notices provided due to the lapse in appropriation.”

By shutting those programs, the White House would then use the lack of funding as a reason to fire those federal employees.

“Programs that did not benefit from an infusion of mandatory appropriations will bear the brunt of the shutdown, and we must continue planning efforts in the event Democrats decide to shut down the government,” the memo said.

The memo also said agencies would be directed to consider reduction-in-force notices for all employees in programs, projects or activities whose discretionary funding will lapse on Wednesday that lack available alternative funding sources and are “not consistent with the President’s priorities.”

Both parties are in a standoff over government funding, which will expire at the end of the day on Tuesday. The Republican-controlled House passed a short-term bill to keep the government funded through Nov. 21. However, the Senate, which requires 60 votes to approve the measure, rejected both the GOP and Democratic proposals to keep the government open.

Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, New York Democrat, pushed back at OMB Director Russell T. Vought.

“This is an attempt at intimidation. Donald Trump has been firing federal workers since day one — not to govern, but to scare,” Mr. Schumer said in a statement. “This is nothing new and has nothing to do with funding the government. These unnecessary firings will either be overturned in court or the administration will end up hiring the workers back, just like they did as recently as [Wednesday].”

Mr. Jeffries, on X, wrote: “Listen Russ, you are a malignant political hack. We will not be intimidated by your threat to engage in mass firings. Get lost.”

Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen​ of Maryland​,​ whose state is home to roughly 150,000 federal workers, said that Democrats will fight back “with every tool we have,” adding that the firings will hurt millions of Americans who rely on the government’s critical services.

Sen. John Fetterman, Pennsylvania Democrat, warned his party not to play politics over the shutdown because workers’ jobs are at stake. He said by holding their ground, Democrats are giving President Trump and Mr. Vought an excuse to fire thousands of workers.

“As a Democrat, if you are concerned by a lot of these changes that have occurred during the Trump presidency, why would you turn over a shuttered government over to Vought and the OMB to effectively remake the government in all kinds of ways? I refuse to be part of things to empower individuals that really want to take away union workers and eliminate more kinds of parts of the government,” Mr. Fetterman said in a CNN interview.

On Thursday, the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association blasted the plan, saying it violates the Constitution and accusing Mr. Trump of using “a scare tactic that callously threatens the livelihoods” of federal workers.

“We urge both Republicans and Democrats in Congress to reject this action, even if current law is clear. If a government shutdown occurs, any appropriations bill ending the shutdown should direct a reversal of all RIFs initiated in response to the lapse in appropriations,” the group said in a statement.