Washington, D.C. — A government shutdown would limit—not expand—the Trump administration’s power to fire federal employees, which is why administration officials began the process for laying off workers before a shutdown even begins.
A new analysis from the Center for American Progress highlights recent guidance from the Office of Personnel Management that signals the administration favors a new round of firings, regardless of whether the Republican-drafted government funding plan is passed in both chambers. It underscores that a reduction in force could only continue, not be initiated, during a shutdown.
At its core, this guidance is an admission by the administration that a shutdown furlough does not invest departments and agencies with the ability to conduct mass firing.
The Trump administration’s actions indicate a stance that federal employees are dispensable—pawns to be played with—and that the firings of employees are not about any notion of government efficiency but about political retaliation at the expense of people’s livelihoods, careers, and the vital services they provide to the American people.
Read the analysis: “The Trump Administration Plans To Retaliate for a Government Shutdown by Firing Federal Employees—But Can It?” by Greta Bedekovics
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