The White House is warning that layoffs of federal employees are “imminent” amid the ongoing government shutdown, and the number of affected employees could be in the thousands.
When asked how many federal employees could be fired, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Thursday, “Look, it’s likely going to be in the thousands.”
“That’s something that the Office of Management and Budget and the entire team at the White House here, again, is unfortunately having to work on today,” Leavitt added.
During a White House press conference Wednesday afternoon, Leavitt said the layoffs, also known as reductions in force (RIFs), will “happen very soon.”
“Two days, imminent,” Leavitt said on Wednesday when clarifying the timing of the RIFs.
The layoffs would mark an unprecedented step in government shutdowns, which until now have never resulted in permanent job cuts. In past shutdowns, federal workers have been furloughed.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, a reduction in the number of federal employees would “reduce the daily cost of compensation for furloughed workers” during the shutdown.
Vice President J.D. Vance clarified at the Wednesday press briefing that no final decisions had been made as to which workers would be laid off. However, he warned that the White House may need to take “extraordinary steps” the longer the shutdown continues.
“We are going to have to lay some people off if the shutdown continues,” Vance said. “We don’t like that. We don’t necessarily want to do it.”
Leavitt told reporters that White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russ Vought briefed House Republicans on the potential layoff plans on Wednesday afternoon.
On Thursday morning, she explained that the White House is “looking at agencies that don’t align with the administration’s values that we feel are a waste of the taxpayer dollar.”