Hours after the official shutdown of the U.S .government, President Trump threatened mass layoffs of federal workers.
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According to NBC News, many federal employees are expected to be furloughed during the government shutdown. Other employees will report to work without pay. President Trump has now threatened to impose layoffs on federal workers due to the closure.
However, despite the threats, Vice President Vance stated the Trump administration doesn’t “want to lay anybody off” during the shutdown.
“We don’t want to lay anybody off, but what we do want to do is make sure that as many of the essential services of government remain functional as possible,” Vance explained. “We were sort of dealt this hand by that faction of Senate Democrats who shut down the government. We’re going to have to make sure that as much of the people’s government remains government remains open or functional as possible.”
The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that approximately 750,000 federal employees would be furloughed during the government shutdown.
The White House Office of Management and Budget asked federal agencies last week to prepare for potential workforce layoffs.
The government shutdown began just after midnight on Wednesday after the US Senate failed to pass a short-term funding bill. During the voting process, the House and Senate Democrats sought to include an extension of expiring Obamacare subsidies. The House and Senate Republicans just sought to extend current funding without extending the subsidies.
While speaking to reporters on Tuesday, President Trump said that the administration “may do a lot” of layoffs. He then continuously blamed the Democrats for the government shutdown.
Two Unions Have Filed Lawsuits Against President Trump’s “Illegal” Plans to Layoff Federal Workers During Government Shutdown
Just before the government shutdown, two unions, the American Federation of Government Employees and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, filed a lawsuit against President Trump over his “illegal” plans to lay off federal workers during the closure.
The lawsuit was filed in a San Francisco federal court. It was alleged that Trump’s “unlawful threats” violated the law.
“These actions are contrary to law and arbitrary and capricious,” the lawsuit stated. “And the cynical use of federal employees as a pawn in Congressional deliberations should be declared unlawful and enjoined by this Court.”
American Federation of Government Employees National President, Everett Kelly, said announcing any plans to “fire potentially tens of thousands of federal employees simply because Congress and the administration are at odds on funding the government past the end of the fiscal year is not only illegal — it’s immoral and unconscionable.”