The White House announced on the first day of the U.S. federal government shutdown, triggered by Congress’s failure to pass a temporary budget bill, that it plans to begin mass firings of federal employees within the next two days.
Kabul 24: The shutdown commenced after Republican and Democratic senators failed to reach an agreement on the administration’s proposed funding measure during a late-night session on Tuesday, September 30, 2025, halting operations for a significant portion of the government as of Wednesday morning, October 1.
Hours after the official start of the shutdown, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt addressed reporters, stating that the Trump administration intends to initiate widespread layoffs “immediately and within one to two days.”
This follows President Donald Trump’s pre-vote threat in the Senate, where he warned that if the budget bill was not approved and the government shut down, affected federal workers would face permanent dismissal rather than temporary furloughs.
In a surprise appearance at the White House press briefing, Vice President JD Vance urged Democrats to approve the temporary budget bill to end the shutdown and avert the mass firings.
Vance emphasized that the administration does not want to proceed with layoffs but will do so if necessary to maintain essential services, blaming Democrats for holding out on demands related to healthcare subsidies and other priorities.
He argued that using the shutdown as leverage for policy concessions, such as extending Affordable Care Act subsidies set to expire at year’s end, is unreasonable and harmful to American families.
The impasse stems from Democrats’ insistence on including extensions for enhanced ACA subsidies—which could prevent premium spikes for millions—and reversing certain Medicaid cuts from recent Republican legislation, while Republicans push for a “clean” short-term funding extension without such additions.
The House had passed a stopgap measure to fund operations through November, but it stalled in the Senate, requiring 60 votes to advance amid partisan gridlock.This shutdown, the first since 2019, impacts critical services including national parks, economic data collection, and environmental programs, with up to 750,000 federal workers facing furloughs or worse.
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB), led by Director Russell Vought, issued memos directing agencies to prepare “reduction-in-force” (RIF) plans targeting non-essential programs not aligned with Trump’s priorities, marking a departure from past shutdowns where workers were typically furloughed temporarily with back pay upon resolution.
Unions, including the American Federation of Government Employees, have filed lawsuits challenging the legality of these firings, arguing they violate federal law and the Antideficiency Act, which limits actions during funding lapses.
Critics, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, called the threats “intimidation” tactics to shrink the federal workforce, echoing Trump’s broader agenda via initiatives like the Department of Government Efficiency.
Essential functions like Social Security, Medicare, military operations, and border security continue uninterrupted, but the prolonged uncertainty has left workers anxious about job security and back pay.
With no clear path to resolution, the administration’s aggressive stance intensifies pressure on Congress, potentially reshaping the federal bureaucracy amid deepening political divides in Washington.
