Executive Branch agencies initiated another round of mass firings of federal employees Friday as the government shutdown stretches on.
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) announced another round of reductions in force (RIFs) would begin Friday following a failed vote by the Senate to reopen the government. Over 4,100 employees have been laid off since then, according to a recent court filing from the Department of Justice (DOJ).
RIF notices swept Friday through the Department of Health and Human Services, with between 1,100 and 1,200 employees laid off “across multiple divisions,” according to the DOJ.
“All HHS employees receiving reduction-in-force notices were designated non-essential by their respective divisions,” the department led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said. “HHS continues to close wasteful and duplicative entities, including those that are at odds with the Trump Administration’s Make America Healthy Again agenda.”
The Center for Disease Control’s Washington office was notified of its termination late Friday night as well, alongside the employees in the Global Health Center and the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.
A total of 466 Department of Education employees, 442 Department of Housing and Urban Development employees, 315 Department of Commerce employees, and 187 Department of Energy employees were all notified they would be let go, according to the DOJ.
In addition, 176 Department of Homeland Security employees were notified of their impending separation, many of whom worked in the Cybersecurity Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).
“RIFs will be occurring at CISA. During the last administration CISA was focused on censorship, branding and electioneering,” a DHS spokesperson told the Daily Caller News Foundation (DCNF). “This is part of getting CISA back on mission.”
The Community Financial Institutions Fund, a department under the U.S. Department of the Treasury, was eliminated entirely, resulting in 102 employee layoffs.
Other federal agencies are left facing staffing uncertainties. Employees of the Environmental Protection Agency, for example, received notices Friday indicating they might be facing a RIF in the future. The DOJ filing describes the department as “deliberating” potential plans for RIFs.
“It’s unfortunate that Democrats have chosen to shut down the government and brought about this outcome. If they want to reopen the government, they can choose to do so at any time,” an EPA spokesperson told the DCNF.
The court filing detailing this round of the administration’s layoffs was ordered by U.S. District Judge Susan Illston in a lawsuit filed by the American Federation of Government Employees and the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, just before the shutdown began.
Editor’s note: This report was updated with statements from the EPA and DHS.
