Vought Sounds Layoff Siren: 'the Rifs Have Begun'

President Donald Trump’s administration on Friday afternoon announced that it has begun firing federal workers, OMB Director Russ Vought wrote on X.

“The RIFs have begun,” Vought posted, on day 10 of the government shutdown, referring to reduction-in-force plans that the White House has long contemplated.

“Can confirm RIFs have begun and they are substantial,” an OMB spokesperson told POLITICO. “These are RIFs not furloughs."

It’s unclear how many people were laid off and Vought provided no further details.

But an administration official granted anonymity to discuss the layoffs said they hit agencies including: Interior, Homeland Security, Treasury, EPA, Commerce, Education, Energy, HHS and HUD.

And Vought’s post appears to follow through on a threat to inflict more political pain on Democrats.

Trump on Thursday said his administration would target programs backed by Democrats.

“We’re only cutting Democrat programs, I hate to tell you, but we are cutting Democrat programs,” the president said during a Cabinet meeting. “We will be cutting some very popular Democrat programs that aren’t popular with Republicans, frankly.”

Since before the government shutdown began, the White House budget office has been previewing plans to seize on the funding lapse to permanently terminate the employment of federal workers.

In a memo to agencies two weeks ago, OMB instructed Trump administration officials to prepare to carry out reduction-in-force — or RIF — plans during the shutdown, targeting employees who work for programs that are not legally required to continue or clash with Trump's policy priorities.

“I think they held off as long as they could,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune.

An Interior Department spokesperson did not immediately respond to questions.

Two employees within Interior said after Vought’s social media post they had not heard from department officials about possible large-scale terminations. One of the people said they had been told by a union representative that the union had also not been notified of imminent firings.

“He’s such a troll,” a second Interior employee said of Vought’s post.

In past shutdowns, federal workers were furloughed, not fired. Trump already decimated the federal workforce in the first months of his second term, culling a bureaucracy he accused of “waste, fraud and abuse.”

“This administration wants to reopen the government,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt said this week. “We don't want to see people laid off. But unfortunately if this shutdown continues, layoffs are going to be an unfortunate consequence.”

Meredith Lee Hill and Jordain Carney contributed to this report.