The White House Budget Office has sent a notice to government agencies to prepare plans for massive layoffs and staff reductions in the event of a federal government shutdown on October 1, Politico reported, citing its sources.
Unlike the usual practice of federal agency employees going on furlough en masse during the shutdown, this time the plan is to cut and reduce staff numbers, as well as close programs and projects that “do not align with President Donald Trump“s priorities“.
The newspaper notes that in previous years, laid-off employees were immediately rehired after funding was restored. However, that option is no longer envisaged. “This time, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vote is using the threat of job losses as leverage, raising the stakes in the Republican-Democratic spending showdown,“ Politico notes.
According to a source at the Office of Management and Budget, Social Security, Medicare and veterans' benefits programs will continue to operate regardless of the government shutdown. Funding for the military, law enforcement, immigration and border services, and air traffic controllers will also continue.
On September 19, US President Donald Trump threatened to shut down the federal government if Republicans and Democrats in Congress do not reach a consensus on a bill to allocate additional funding by October 1. On September 19, the Senate rejected two bills to continue funding the federal government. The Republican bill passed the lower house with 48 votes, while the Senate bill, drafted by Democrats, had 47.
The Senate thus failed to pass the bill that would have prevented a possible government shutdown on October 1. According to US media, this significantly increases the likelihood of a government shutdown.
In March, Trump signed a law extending funding for the federal government through the end of the fiscal year, which ends on September 30. This averted the expected shutdown on March 15, which would have closed several government agencies and programs and temporarily suspended the salaries of hundreds of thousands of government employees, many of whom would have been laid off.
Since 1977, such a funding shutdown has occurred more than 20 times due to disagreements between the administration and Congress. The longest shutdown lasted 35 days, from December 22, 2018, to January 25, 2019, during Trump's first term.