Federal workers might be about to get screwed—again.
President Donald Trump’s budget office has told federal agencies to brace for mass firings if the government shuts down next week—and with negotiations deadlocked, that’s looking more likely by the day.
The Office of Management and Budget sent a memo to agencies Wednesday night spelling out what to do if Congress doesn’t pass a spending bill by Sept. 30, according to Politico. Unlike the usual shutdown playbook, which relies on temporary furloughs, this one warns agencies to go further, issuing permanent reduction-in-force notices for workers on programs and projects with no legal funding requirement and “not consistent with the President’s priorities.”
In other words, some employees who would typically be brought back once the government reopens could instead be out of a job for good.
“Programs that did not benefit from an infusion of mandatory appropriations will bear the brunt of a shutdown, and we must continue our planning efforts in the event Democrats decide to shut down the government,” the memo reads.
The warning raises the stakes in an already high-pressure standoff on Capitol Hill—but Trump is the one walking away from talks. Earlier this week, he abruptly canceled a planned meeting with Democratic leaders intended to avert a shutdown, dismissing their demands as “unserious and ridiculous.”
“I have decided that no meeting with their Congressional Leaders could possibly be productive,” he wrote on Truth Social.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer shot back: “Trump and Republicans are holding America hostage. Donald Trump will own the shutdown.”
The top Senate Democrat doubled down on Wednesday, accusing the administration of using the threat of layoffs as a political weapon.
“This is an attempt at intimidation. Donald Trump has been firing federal workers since day one—not to govern, but to scare,” Schumer told NBC News. “This is nothing new and has nothing to do with funding the government. These unnecessary firings will either be overturned in court or the administration will end up hiring the workers back, just like they did as recently as today.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, left, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer speak to reporters to criticize Republican efforts to cut health care spending, at the Capitol in Washington, on Sept. 11.
Schumer was referencing the White House’s recent scramble to rehire hundreds of federal staffers fired by Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries was even more direct, posting on X, “Listen, Russ, you are a malignant political hack. We will not be intimidated by your threat to engage in mass firings. Get lost.”
Not everything would grind to a halt if the government shuts down: Social Security, Medicare, veterans’ benefits, border enforcement, military operations, and air traffic control would all continue to run, according to Politico.
But with less than a week remaining before the funding deadline, Congress remains gridlocked. The House passed a short-term funding bill through Nov. 21, but the Senate—which requires 60 votes—rejected both the GOP and Democratic proposals.
Republicans are demanding a “clean” stopgap bill. Democrats, however, aim to reverse GOP-backed Medicaid cuts and extend Affordable Care Act subsidies, which are set to expire in late December.
“The Administration supports Senate passage of H.R. 5371, but congressional Democrats are currently blocking this clean CR due to their partisan demands,” the memo says. “It has never been more important for the Administration to be prepared for a shutdown if the Democrats choose to pursue one.”
Polls suggest Republicans have more to lose politically. A September Strength In Numbers/Verasight poll finds that 34% of Americans would blame the GOP for a shutdown, compared with 23% who would blame Democrats and 34% who’d fault both parties.
But the politics matter a lot less to the government workers whose jobs are on the line.
