Government shutdown update: How many federal workers could lose jobs? White House answers

The White House budget office said mass firings of federal workers had begun, an attempt by the Trump administration to pressure Democrats during the shutdown.

The White House budget office on Friday said that mass firings of federal workers had begun. This is an attempt by the Donald Trump administration to put the pressure on Democrat lawmakers as the government shutdown continues into the tenth day.

Russ Vought, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, wrote on X that 'RIFs have begun.'(AFP)

The budget office, in a court filing, shared the number of people who would be fired, while noting that the funding situation was ‘fluid and rapidly evolving’. This came even as Russ Vought, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, wrote on X that “RIFs have begun." He was referring to reduction-in-force plans which are aimed at reducing the federal government's size.

Govt shutdown: How many people will be fired

As per the filings, as many as 4,000 federal workers could be fired if the shutdown continues.

The firings would hit the hardest at the departments of the Treasury, which would lose over 1,400 employees, and Health and Human Services, with a loss of over 1,100. The Education Department and Housing and Urban Development each would lose over 400 staffers. The departments of Commerce, Energy and Homeland Security and the Environmental Protection Agency were all set to fire hundreds of more employees. It was not clear which particular programs would be affected.

Usually, federal workers are furloughed but they are restored to their jobs after the shutdown ends. They normally get back pay too. Officials have said some 750,000 employees are expected to be furloughed during this shutdown.

The Trump administration's move, then, comes as highly untoward, and has been criticized by Democrats and some Republicans. “I strongly oppose OMB Director Russ Vought’s attempt to permanently lay off federal workers who have been furloughed due to a completely unnecessary government shutdown,” said Maine Sen. Susan Collins, chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer squarely placed the blame at Trump's door, saying “Let’s be blunt: nobody’s forcing Trump and Vought to do this,” Schumer said. “They don’t have to do it; they want to. They’re callously choosing to hurt people — the workers who protect our country, inspect our food, respond when disasters strike. This is deliberate chaos.”

(With AP inputs)