White House budget director Russ Vought projected that over 10,000 federal employees will be terminated due to the ongoing government shutdown. Vought pledged to \u201ccontinue the RIFs\u201d (reduction-in-force notifications) issued by agencies on Friday. However, a federal judge in California temporarily blocked these layoffs, and the Trump administration plans to challenge the ruling.<\/p>\n
Court documents show about 4,000 federal employees have already been terminated, but Vought expects the number to rise. In his first live interview since the shutdown began, Vought said the layoffs would target agencies not aligned with Trump\u2019s priorities, including environmental programs at the Department of Energy and EPA, the Minority Business Development Agency, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.<\/p>\n
President Trump announced plans to eliminate more programs tied to Democratic priorities if the shutdown continues. \u201cWe\u2019re closing up programs that are Democrat programs that we were opposed to,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, House Speaker Mike Johnson warned that the Trump administration\u2019s efforts to keep military families paid during the shutdown are only temporary. The administration authorized the Department of Defense to use unspent research and development funds to cover military paychecks, but Johnson said this solution cannot last indefinitely.<\/p>\n
The shutdown has furloughed thousands of federal employees, while \u201cessential\u201d workers like active-duty military and law enforcement continue working without pay. A short-term funding measure passed by the House on September 19 aims to keep the government running through November 21, but it still needs 60 votes in the Senate to pass. So far, only three Democrats have supported ending the shutdown.<\/p>\n