Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought told House Republicans in a Wednesday call that layoffs of federal workers will be coming in a day or two, according to sources on the call.
The call came on day one of a government shutdown as Democrats in Congress have rejected a short-term Republican funding plan and are making demands like extending enhanced ObamaCare tax credits. Democrats had forced Vought’s hand, one source said.
Vought hinted at the layoffs in a memo last week — as the government shutdown loomed — that directed agencies to “use this opportunity to consider reduction in force (RIF) notices for all employees in programs, projects, or activities” that met certain conditions in a shutdown.
That memo was widely seen as an attempt to further pressure Democrats into voting for Republicans’ bill to avert a shutdown.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters in a briefing shortly after Wednesday’s call that the layoffs to federal workers are happening in “two days, imminent, very soon.”
“It’s not unclear, all of those things are very synonymous with one another. These RIFs are unfortunately going to have to happen very soon,” she said, referring to reductions in force.
Non-essential employees are typically furloughed or told to work without pay in a shutdown, and get back pay when they eventually return to work, but the memo suggests there could be permanent layoffs of non-essential employees.
The Senate on Wednesday, for the second day in a row, rejected rival short-term funding measures.
Vought also told the members that funding for food assistance for the Women, Infants and Children food assistance program would run out in the next week or two, sources on the call said.
Vice President Vance previewed the coming layoffs at the White House press conference.
“We are going to have to lay some people off if the government shutdown continues,” Vance said. “We don’t like that, we don’t necessarily want to do it, but we’re going to do what we have to do to keep the American peoples’ essential services continue to run.”
“Let’s be honest. If this thing drags on for another few days or, God forbid, another few weeks, we are going to have to lay people off,” Vance added.
Any such move to fire workers could prompt a legal fight, as other attempts by President Trump to reshape the federal government have.
Democrats have argued that a shutdown gives the Trump administration no new powers to fire federal employees. A memo from the progressive Center on Budget and Policy Priorities argued that “a shutdown provides no new legal authority to engage in mass layoffs, nor does it provide any sound management or policy reason to do so.”
Alex Gangitano contributed
Updated at 2:17 p.m. EDT