WASHINGTON
\nThe White House said on Friday that it had begun substantial layoffs across the government, as President Donald Trump followed through on a threat to cut the federal workforce during the government shutdown.
\nJob cuts were underway at the Treasury Department, the US health agency and the departments of education, commerce, and Homeland Security\u2019s cybersecurity division, but the total extent of the layoffs was not immediately clear.
\nRoughly 300,000 federal civilian workers will leave their jobs this year due to a downsizing campaign initiated earlier this year by Trump.
\n\u201cThe RIFs have begun,\u201d White House budget director Russell Vought wrote on social media, referring to \u201creductions in force\u201d. A spokesperson for the budget office characterised the cuts as \u201csubstantial\u201d.
\nTrump has repeatedly threatened to fire federal workers during the shutdown standoff, in its 10th day on Friday, and has suggested his administration will aim primarily at \u201cDemocrat agencies\u201d. He has ordered the freezing of at least $28 billion in infrastructure funds for New York, California and Illinois \u2014 all home to sizable populations of Democratic voters and critics of the administration.
\nTrump\u2019s Republicans hold majorities in both chambers of Congress, but need at least seven Democratic votes to pass a funding bill in the Senate, where Democrats are holding out for an extension of health-insurance subsidies.
\nDemocrats said they will not cave to Trump\u2019s pressure tactics.
\n\u201cUntil Republicans get serious, they own every job lost, every family hurt, every service gutted is because of their decisions,\u201d Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said.
\nLabour unions representing federal workers have sued to stop the layoffs, saying they would be illegal during a shutdown.
\nA federal judge is due to hear the case on Oct 16.
\nThe government is required by law to give workers 60 days\u2019 notice ahead of any layoffs, though that can be shortened to 30 days.
\nEmployees across multiple divisions of the Department of Health and Human Services have received layoff notices, communications director Andrew Nixon said. The 78,000 workers at the sprawling agency manage major health insurance programmes, monitor disease outbreaks, fund medical research, and perform a wide range of other health-related duties.
\nRoughly 41 per cent of the agency\u2019s staff have been ordered not to report to work during the shutdown, while others have been ordered to continue working without pay.
\nNixon said the layoffs were targeted at those who had been furloughed, but did not provide further details.
\nLayoffs have also begun at the Treasury Department, according to a spokesperson.
\nA labour union official, Thomas Huddleston of the American Federation of Government Employees, said in a court filing he had been told Treasury was preparing 1,300 layoff notices. Those layoffs could hit the tax-collecting Internal Revenue Service, which has been targeted for steep job cuts this year.
\nSome 46pc of the agency\u2019s 78,000 employees were furloughed on Wednesday.
\nOfficials also confirmed job cuts at the Education Department, which Trump has vowed to shutter completely, and the Commerce Department, which handles weather forecasting, economic data reports, and other duties.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WASHINGTON The White House said on Friday that it had begun substantial layoffs across the government, as President Donald Trump followed through on a threat to cut the federal workforce during the government shutdown. Job cuts were underway at the Treasury Department, the US health agency and the departments of education, commerce, and Homeland Security\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":508135,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-508116","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n