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- The promised federal worker firings have begun as the government shutdown drags on.Other federal employees remain furloughed or are working without pay.Business Insider heard from two dozen workers about what's happening as they wait for more news.
As the government shutdown drags on, the promised federal firings have begun.
Director of the United States Office of Management and Budget Russell Vought posted on X around noon Eastern time on Friday, "The RIFs have begun."
He's likely referring to a pre-shutdown memo from The Office of Management and Budget directing federal agencies to "consider" terminations for employees working in programs that are "not consistent with the President's priorities." The memo did give specifics on which agencies or roles would be impacted.
Business Insider has spoken with two dozen employees across agencies since the shutdown began. Some have been furloughed, while others remain at their post without pay. Most have been bracing themselves for bad news.
The Office of Management and Budget did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI, and the White House referred Business Insider to OMB. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt previously told reporters that layoffs will "likely" be "in the thousands."
For his part, Mark Cochran is exhausted. He's a longtime National Park Service employee at Pennsylvania's Gettysburg Military Park and Northeastern regional union president. Cochran spent the end of September storing equipment, closing the park's cemetery, and throwing away trash in preparation for a shutdown. On October 1, he received a notice that his role is furloughed — and he has been waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Layoffs would be "ridiculous," Cochran told Business Insider last week. "We've been doing more with less for decades, and if you cut our staffing even more, then things aren't going to get done."
Federal workers had been bracing for firings and are worried about their finances
Workers at agencies like the Internal Revenue Service, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Centers for Disease Control, National Weather Service, and Department of Defense told reporters that they expect more staff cuts. Many are worried about their paychecks in the interim.
Jill Hornick, a 30-year veteran at the Social Security Administration and a leader in the Chicago-area union, said that she and colleagues are stressed about their job security and financial future, and that it's not just about them.
"There are ripple effects," she said. "Because now all the major downtown areas — Chicago, LA, DC, New York — will not have federal employees spending money because they don't have money to spend. It hurts all these mom and pop businesses, dry cleaners, and restaurants. The damage to the economy is just inexcusable."
About 658,000 workers across agencies and the military began receiving partial paychecks on October 10 for days worked immediately prior to the shutdown, and some will see smaller amounts or miss checks altogether until the government reopens. Other employees are anxious that this partial paycheck will be their last.
A Trump administration memo seen by Business Insider also says that the hundreds of thousands of furloughed federal workers may not receive back pay unless Congress explicitly authorizes it when reopening the government — despite a 2019 law that is widely understood to guarantee back pay to employees following a shutdown. And, with Democrats and Republicans in a stalemate over spending and healthcare plans, it's unclear when the shutdown will end.
This isn't the first wave of federal staff cuts this year. The Department of Government Efficiency carried out mass firings and budget cuts in the spring, which many federal workers feel disrupted agency functions and led to untenable workloads.
Since Trump took office in January, over 200,000 federal workers have lost their jobs and thousands more have left their government posts through retirement, buyouts, quits, and deferred resignations. A July 8 Supreme Court ruling gave the Trump administration a green light to continue mass firings.
Americans could experience delays at Social Security, the post office, airports, national parks, and more if the federal firings and the shutdown continue.
Alice Tecotzky, Juliana Kaplan, and Jack Newsham contributed reporting.
