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The largest federal workers union on Thursday denounced the White House’s threat of mass firings in the event of a government shutdown next week as “political games” and an attempt to distract from a simple fact: The Republican Party needs Democrats to vote for its funding bill, so it must agree to reverse massive healthcare cuts in order to get Democratic support.
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released a memo Wednesday night, telling federal agencies to prepare for mass layoffs if the government shuts down on October 1.
The office, headed by Russell Vought—who co-authored the right-wing agenda Project 2025 and helped push for the firing of tens of thousands of other federal employees by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)—said agencies should consider firing workers involved in programs that are not funded by other laws such as the GOP’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) and that are “not consistent with the president’s priorities.”
Even after government funding is eventually reinstated following a potential shutdown, said the OMB, agencies should plan to retain the smallest possible number of employees needed to operate.
“While politicians are playing games, real Americans’ jobs, paychecks, and access to vital services are being threatened by a looming government shutdown. Now, White House OMB Director Russell Vought has announced his intention to pursue another DOGE-like round of illegal mass firings in the event of a shutdown, adding to the chaos,” said Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees.
An OMB official told Politico that “Social Security, Medicare, veterans benefits, military operations, law enforcement, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection, and air traffic control” would not be impacted by the mass firings threatened in the memo.
The threat came just a week before the October 1 deadline to pass legislation to keep the government funded.
Republicans have proposed a continuing resolution to keep the government funded through November 21.
The Democratic Party has proposed a plan to keep the government running through October 31 with legislation that reverses Medicaid cuts included in the OBBBA and extends Affordable Care Act subsidies that set to expire due to provisions in the law.
Neither proposal passed in the Senate last week before lawmakers left for recess. GOP leaders including House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) have refused to meet with Democrats to negotiate on the healthcare cuts, and President Donald Trump this week canceled talks with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY)—baselessly claiming on his Truth Social platform that the Democrats had made demands including “transgender operations for everybody” in a government funding bill.
On Wednesday, Schumer called Vought’s memo “an attempt at intimidation” and said the mass firings threatened by the OMB would not stand up in court.
“Donald Trump has been firing federal workers since day one—not to govern, but to scare,” said Schumer. “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.”
But since the Republicans are “happy to downsize and to shed federal government employees,” warned Harvard law professor Jack Goldsmith, they have “an asymmetric weapon against congressional shutdown threats.”
Vought’s memo concluded by placing the responsibility for a shutdown on Democrats, asserting that their refusal to support legislation that’s expected to result in healthcare premiums that are 75% higher for millions of families would be to blame for the mass firings.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee, said in a statement that the memo displayed “Russ Vought’s trademark chaos.”
“Instead of coming to the table to negotiate lowering costs and addressing the healthcare crisis Republicans created, the White House is staging harmful charades like this that will impact all Americans,” DeLauro said.
Kelley added that “the truth is simple: Republicans cannot fund the government without Democratic votes.”
“That means the only path forward is compromise,” said Kelley. “The president and congressional leaders must sit down and negotiate in good faith to keep the lights on for the American people. Nothing less is acceptable.”
“Federal employees are not bargaining chips,” he added. “They are veterans, caregivers, law enforcement officers, and neighbors who serve their country and fellow Americans every day. They deserve stability and respect, not pink slips and political games.”
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