The White House warns RIFs will happen “very soon.” But it’s unclear which agencies will pursue employee layoffs in a shutdown — or how fast they could...After congressional appropriations lapsed and a government shutdown began at midnight on Oct. 1, the Trump administration now warns that further federal employee layoffs are imminent. Vice President JD Vance doubled down on the Office of Management and Budget’s last week’s directive to terminate more federal employees in the case of a government shutdown. The Trump administration’s pursuit of further layoffs illustrates a much more permanent impact on federal employees under the current government shutdown. In past shutdowns, hundreds of thousands of federal employees faced furloughs, but they returned to their positions and were provided with back pay once the shutdown ended. Out of the approximately 200,000 federal employees who have left their jobs this year, about 154,000 departures were attributable to employees who opted into the deferred resignation program (DRP).