Oct. 10 (UPI) — Federal employee layoffs have begun as the government shutdown continues at least into next week after Senate members left Washington on Friday.
Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought announced the layoffs in a social media post that simply says, “the RIFs have begun.”
“RIFs” is an acronym for “reductions in force,” but Vought did not say how many federal workers or agencies are affected, The Hill reported.
An OMB spokesperson confirmed Vought’s statement is correct.
A Trump administration official told Politico the layoffs affect the Commerce, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Interior and Treasury departments.
President Donald Trump on Thursday told his Cabinet the layoffs would affect what he called “Democrat programs that aren’t popular with Republicans,” Politico reported.
The OMB earlier notified federal agencies to prepare for a potential reduction in force if the shutdown were extended beyond a few days.
The agencies were to lay off non-essential workers and those who oppose the president’s policies, the OMB memo said.
Monday is a bank holiday — the observance of Columbus Day — in the United States, and the Senate had no votes on a continuing resolution to fund the government on Friday.
The Senate is scheduled to resume session on Tuesday, while the House is scheduled to return on Oct. 20.
Friday marked 10 days since the government shut down after the Senate failed to pass a continuing resolution to fund the government.
Thursday night marked the seventh attempt to pass a stopgap funding bill, but the upper chamber was 6 votes short of the 60 needed for a supermajority for the Republican bill and 13 votes short of the Democrats’ bill.
At issue are subsidies for Affordable Care Act tax credits set to expire in the new year and expansion of Medicare, while adding an estimated $1.5 trillion in costs over the next 10 years.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said his party wouldn’t support the stopgap legislation unless Republicans back extending the ACA tax credits and Medicare expansion.
President Donald Trump again threatened to cut federal programs if Democrats don’t support the Republican bill.
House and Senate Republicans say Senate Democrats want to provide healthcare funding for migrants who are not legal residents, which Senate Democrats have denied.
Some of the 750,000 federal workers furloughed as a result of the shutdown will begin missing their first paychecks Friday.
About 1.3 million members of the military are next set to receive pay on Wednesday, but they might have to wait until the federal government is funded to receive retroactive pay.
