The White House budget office said Friday that mass firings of federal workers have started in an attempt to exert more pressure on Democratic lawmakers as the government shutdown continues.
Russell Vought, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, said on the social platform X that the “RIFs have begun,” referring to reduction-in-force plans aimed at reducing the size of the federal government.
The White House previewed that it would pursue the aggressive layoff tactic shortly before the government shutdown began on Oct. 1, telling all federal agencies to submit their reduction-in-force plans to the budget office for its review. It said reduction-in-force could apply for federal programs whose funding would lapse in a government shutdown, is otherwise not funded and is “not consistent with the President’s priorities.”
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White House budget office says it could fire over 4,000 federal employees during shutdown
The office said in a court filing that well over 4,000 workers would be dismissed, though it noted that the funding situation is “fluid and rapidly evolving.”
The firings would hit the hardest at the departments of the Treasury, which would lose over 1,400 employees; Health and Human Services, with a loss of over 1,100; and Housing and Urban Development, set to lose over 400.
Commerce, Education, Energy, Homeland Security and the Environmental Protection Agency were all set to fire hundreds more.
It was not clear which particular programs would be affected.
Trump says Nobel could have been given for achievements in 2024, when he was busy running for office
The president, giving his reaction to the award, listed off peace efforts he made while in office this year but said that when it comes to the Nobel Peace Prize, “You could also say it was given out for ’24, and I was running for office in ’24.”
There is some truth to that: There is a Feb. 1 deadline to be nominated for the 2025 award, which fell just a week and a half into his second term.
Trump said Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado called him after her win and told him, “I’m accepting this in honor of you because you really deserved it.”
He then joked: “I didn’t say, ‘Then give it to me.’”
“I think she might have,” Trump added.
Trump says he hasn’t canceled meeting with Xi despite new trade tensions
“I’m going to be there regardless,” the president told reporters during an Oval Office appearance for an announcement on prescription drug pricing.
The leaders are expected to meet at the end of October on the sidelines of a regional conference in South Korea.
Trump had said earlier on social media that there didn’t seem to be a reason to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping anymore because of export controls the country placed on rare earths.
He said in the Oval Office that China’s move was unexpected.
Trump administration puts up landing page for TrumpRX.gov
Both Pfizer and AstraZeneca will offer medications through the site, which the administration says will allow people to buy drugs directly from manufacturers.
The website’s landing page features two very large pictures of Trump and a promise that the site is “Coming Soon” in January 2026.
It says at the bottom that the website was “Designed in DC by The National Design Studio,” which was created by executive order in August and is being led by Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia.
Wall Street tumbles to its worst day since April after Trump threatens more tariffs on China
A monthslong calm on Wall Street shattered as the S&P 500 sank 2.7% in its worst day since April; the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 878 points, or 1.9%; and the Nasdaq composite fell 3.6%.
Stocks had been heading for a slight gain in the morning, until Trump took to his social media platform and said he’s considering “a massive increase of tariffs” on Chinese imports. He’s upset at restrictions China has placed on exports of its rare earths, which are materials that are critical for the manufacturing of everything from consumer electronics to jet engines.
The ratchet higher in tensions between the world’s largest economies led to widespread drops across Wall Street, with roughly six out of every seven stocks within the S&P 500 falling. Nearly everything weakened, from Big Tech companies like Nvidia and Apple to stocks of smaller companies looking to get past uncertainty about tariffs and trade.
Trump makes announcement on drug prices
Late in the afternoon, the president brought the press into the Oval Office to announce that drug manufacturer AstraZeneca will offer “major discounts” on prescriptions.
He touted it as “another historic achievement in our quest to lower drug prices for all Americans.”
Trump escalates trade war with China
The president says he’s placing an additional 100% tax on Chinese imports starting Nov. 1 or sooner. He cited Chinese export controls on rare earths.
If Trump goes ahead with it, the move would push tariff rates close to levels that in April fanned fears of a steep recession and financial market chaos.
Trump made the announcement on his social media site. He said the date for imposing the tariff would depend on “any further actions or changes taken by China.”
The Republican president is known for backing down from his threats.
Environmental Protection Agency union calls layoffs ‘illegal abuse of power’
“It is appalling that the Trump administration is using the government shutdown as an excuse to fire federal workers, including dedicated EPA employees who provide critical services to communities across the country,” said Justin Chen, president of American Federation of Government Employees Council 238, which represents EPA workers.
The Environmental Protection Agency said it has begun an unspecified number of layoffs. A spokesperson blamed congressional Democrats, saying they “have chosen to shut down the government and brought about this outcome.”
Chen said using EPA jobs “as political leverage is an unprecedented and illegal abuse of power,” adding that they will weaken the agency workforce and thus pose a direct threat to public health and safety.
Dozens of employees face layoffs at Education Department
Rachel Gittleman, president of AFGE Local 252, said the Trump administration is laying off almost all employees below the director level at the agency’s Office of Elementary and Secondary Education. The office was down to about 165 employees after mass firings that nearly halved the Education Department in March.
The office oversees much of the department’s grantmaking activities to school districts. It supports work ranging from helping schools affected by natural disasters to allocating funding for teacher training and disbursing money allocated by Congress.
Fewer than 10 employees were being terminated at the Education Department’s Office of Communications and Outreach. It will eliminate one of two teams remaining in the office after the March layoffs.
The union said it’s unclear exactly how many Education Department staffers are being laid off as part of mass firings across the federal government Friday.
Virginia senators say firings are ‘deliberate choice’
Virginia’s two senators, Democrats Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, say the Trump administration’s firing of thousands of federal workers is not an unfortunate byproduct of the government shutdown, “but a deliberate choice.”
The senators represent a state that will be predominantly affected by the layoffs. They said the president and his budget director, Russell Vought, are “reckless ideologues willing to inflict real pain on hardworking Americans to score political points.”
“It’s irresponsible, it’s cruel, and it won’t work,” they wrote in a joint statement.