Oct. 11 (UPI) — The Trump administration on Friday announced it had begun laying off more than 4,000 federal workers but will pay troops as the government shutdown continues at least until Tuesday.
President Donald Trump on Saturday announced his administration has located funds to pay the military on Wednesday.
“We have identified funds,” and the president will order Defense Sec. Pete Hegseth to “use all available funds to get our troops paid,” Trump said, as reported by CNN.
The president did not say what funds would be used to pay the troops, and his announcement came as thousands of federal workers have received lay-off notices, with thousands more expected.
Administration officials are planning to lay off a total of 4,100 federal employees until the current budget impasse ends, Axios reported.
Layoff notices have been sent to between 1,100 and 1,200 Health and Human Services workers, 1,446 in the Treasury Department and another 466 in the Department of Education, according to the Office of Management and Budget.
“The situation involving the lapse in appropriations is fluid and rapidly evolving,” OMB adviser Stephen Billy said in a response to a federal union workers’ court challenge to the layoffs.
“These numbers reflect the most current information made available to me at this time and are subject to change,” Billy added.
Additional layoff notices are planned for 442 workers in the Housing and Urban Development agency, 315 in the Commerce Department, 187 in the Department of Energy, 176 in Homeland Security and up to 30 in the Environmental Protection Agency.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also has had an unknown number of workers laid off
The American Federation of Government Employees and the AFL-CIO have filed a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration to end the layoffs and have all workers returned to their jobs despite the lack of funding to pay them, the BBC reported.
OMB Director Russell Vought on Friday announced the Trump administration was beginning a reduction in force of the federal government amid the shutdown.
Senate Republicans are trying to get enough support from Senate Democrats to pass a House-approved continuing resolution that would fund the federal government for seven weeks while continuing to negotiate a bipartisan budget bill for the 2026 fiscal year.
Senate Democrats have proposed an alternative funding resolution that would fund the federal government through Oct. 31 but would add $1.5 trillion in spending over the next 10 years.
That measure would require passage in the House of Representatives, which is on recess until Oct 20.