White House Implements Mass Federal Layoffs as Government Shutdown Crisis Deepens

The White House announced on Friday that it had commenced mass layoffs of federal employees as President Donald Trump intensifies pressure on Democratic opposition to resolve a government shutdown that has severely disrupted public services.

As the crisis approaches its third week with no resolution in sight, Trump's budget director Russ Vought revealed on social media that the administration had begun implementing its threats to terminate some of the 750,000 public servants currently on mandatory leave.

When contacted by AFP, the Office of Management and Budget, under Vought's leadership, described the layoffs as "substantial" but declined to provide specific numbers or identify which departments would bear the brunt of the cuts.

The president has consistently framed these workforce reductions as a strategy to increase pressure on Democrats, stating last week that he was consulting with Vought to determine which "Democrat Agencies, most of which are a political SCAM" should be targeted for cuts.

Democratic congressional leaders have characterized these threats as intimidation tactics and maintain that mass terminations would not withstand legal challenges.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer issued a statement condemning the White House's actions, saying, "Russell Vought just fired thousands of Americans with a tweet," and criticizing the administration for creating "deliberate chaos."

"Let's be blunt: nobody's forcing Trump and Vought to do this. They don't have to do it; they want to," Schumer continued. "They're callously choosing to hurt people -- the workers who protect our country, inspect our food, respond when disasters strike."

Unions representing 800,000 government employees have petitioned a federal judge in San Francisco for an emergency order to halt the terminations, ahead of an October 16 hearing on their legality.

A Treasury Department spokesperson confirmed to AFP that they had begun issuing layoff notices, while Health and Human Services reported initiating terminations of nonessential staff "as a direct consequence of the Democrat-led government shutdown."

The Education Department is also reducing its workforce, according to a source familiar with staffing decisions within the department.

Federal employees who retain their positions still face financial hardship without pay while the standoff continues, with expectations that the impasse will persist until at least the middle of next week.

Compounding the crisis, 1.3 million active-duty military personnel are set to miss their scheduled pay on Wednesday – an unprecedented occurrence during government funding shutdowns in modern history.

"We're not in a good mood here in the Capitol -- it's a somber day," Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson remarked at a news conference marking the shutdown's tenth day.

Nonessential government operations ceased after the September 30 funding deadline expired, with Senate Democrats consistently blocking Republican proposals to reopen federal agencies.

The central dispute involves Republicans' refusal to include provisions in the bill addressing expiring subsidies that make health insurance affordable for 24 million Americans.

As the prospect of a prolonged shutdown increases daily, congressional members have looked to President Trump to intervene and break the stalemate.

However, the president's attention appears focused elsewhere, particularly on the Gaza ceasefire negotiations and deploying federal troops to support his mass deportation initiatives in Democratic-led cities such as Chicago and Portland.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters, "The American people are sick and tired of the chaos, crisis and confusion that has been visited upon the country by Donald Trump and Republican complete control of Congress."

Meanwhile, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced a delay in publishing key inflation data originally scheduled for next week, postponing release until October 24 due to shutdown-related disruptions of government data publications.

The consumer price index data will eventually be published to enable the Social Security Administration to "ensure the accurate and timely payment of benefits," according to the Bureau.