WASHINGTON (Sept. 23, 2025) — The Trump administration is directing federal agencies to prepare plans for permanent job cuts if the government shuts down next week, escalating the stakes of the funding standoff in Washington.
In a memo obtained by POLITICO and confirmed by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), agencies were instructed to draft reduction-in-force (RIF) plans that would go beyond standard furloughs, targeting employees in programs that would lose discretionary funding after Oct. 1 and that President Donald Trump does not consider consistent with his policy priorities.
The memo marks a sharp departure from recent shutdowns, when furloughs were temporary and employees typically returned once Congress restored funding. This time, OMB Director Russ Vought made clear that permanent cuts are on the table if lawmakers fail to reach a deal.
“Programs that did not benefit from an infusion of mandatory appropriations will bear the brunt of a shutdown,” OMB wrote in the guidance. Agencies were ordered to identify which operations would be forced to close and to issue termination notices even to employees who might otherwise be exempt from furloughs.
Essential services such as Social Security, Medicare, veterans benefits, military operations, law enforcement, air traffic control, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Customs and Border Protection would continue to operate regardless of a shutdown, according to an OMB official.
The guidance comes as negotiations between Republicans and Democrats remain deadlocked, with the Sept. 30 deadline looming. The House passed a stopgap bill to fund the government until Nov. 21, but Senate Democrats have blocked it, insisting on bipartisan talks that could include an extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies.
OMB noted that if Congress approves a clean temporary funding bill before the deadline, the mass firing plans would not be implemented.
The move appeared to validate earlier warnings from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who has argued that the administration is using the threat of a shutdown as a way to weaken federal agencies. On Wednesday, after details of the memo were reported, Schumer dismissed it as “an attempt at intimidation” and predicted the firings would either be reversed in court or rolled back by the administration.
“This is nothing new and has nothing to do with funding the government,” Schumer said. “These unnecessary firings will either be overturned in court or the administration will end up hiring the workers back, just like they did as recently as today.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, however, urged voters to take the threat seriously, warning in a post on X that the administration’s actions would punish federal workers and families already strained by tariffs and inflation.
“Their goal is to ruin your life and punish hardworking families,” Jeffries wrote, addressing residents in Virginia, where thousands of federal employees live and where state elections are approaching. “Remember in November.”
The White House has not publicly commented on the memo.
