Chicago – October 11, 2025
More than a week into the government shutdown, layoffs of federal workers have begun, following through on administration threats to slash the size of government during the shutdown.
In a court filing late Friday, lawyers for the government wrote that an estimated 4,200 employees across at least seven agencies began receiving reduction in force, or RIF, notices on Oct. 10.
The declaration, from Office of Management and Budget (OMB) senior advisor Stephen Billy, came in response to an order from the federal judge assigned to a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s shutdown layoffs.
While the administration initially offered few details on the scope of what it called “substantial” layoffs, some federal employees began sharing actual layoff notices on social media while federal employee unions said they’d been notified of pending cuts.
Asked by reporters Friday how many workers may lose their jobs, President Trump did not give an exact figure, but told reporters “it’ll be a lot.”
“We’ll announce the numbers over the next couple of days, but it’ll be a lot of people, all because of the Democrats,” Trump said.
