At HHS, spokesman Andrew Nixon said employees “across multiple divisions have received reduction-in-force notices.” Similarly, a Treasury official verified that RIF notices were issued but declined to disclose how many employees were let go.
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Unions Sue Trump Over Federal Worker Layoffs
The move immediately sparked outrage among federal unions. The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) had already filed a lawsuit on September 30, challenging Trump’s repeated threats to fire federal workers during the shutdown.
“It is disgraceful that the Trump administration has used the government shutdown as an excuse to illegally fire thousands of workers who provide critical services to communities across the country,” said AFGE National President Everett Kelley in a statement.
Shortly after Vought’s post, union attorneys filed an emergency motion for a temporary restraining order to stop the layoffs, arguing that the move violates workers’ rights to back pay and undermines federal law.
A Break from Past Shutdown Practices
Historically, nonessential workers are furloughed, not fired, during a government shutdown — their pay paused but later restored when operations resume. This year’s shutdown, which began on October 1, has already furloughed about 750,000 federal employees, but Trump’s decision to escalate to full layoffs breaks sharply from precedent.
