A federal judge temporarily blocked reduction in force (RIF) orders seeking to dismiss employees of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the U.S. Treasury and other agencies on Oct. 15. Democratic senators wrote to agency leaders, pressing them for details about the RIF plans.
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) announced RIF plans across the federal government on Oct. 10 in a social media post on X (formerly Twitter). The RIFs reportedly called for about 4,000 federal workers to be laid off in total, including 442 at HUD and roughly 1,400 at the Treasury.
A subsequent court filing by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) confirmed the administration had sent RIF notices to thousands of employees and “hinted at the possibility of additional dismissals.”
U.S. Judge Susan Illston of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) preventing the RIFs from taking effect. In her ruling, Illston noted the decision to layoff thousands of government employees during a shutdown is “unprecedented.”
“It is also far from normal for an administration to fire line-level civilian employees during a government shutdown as a way to punish the opposing political party. But this is precisely what President Trump has announced he is doing,” Illston wrote, citing a social media post in which Trump wrote: “I have a meeting today with Russ Vought, he of PROJECT 2025 Fame, to determine which of the many Democrat Agencies, most of which are a political SCAM, he recommends to be cut, and whether or not those cuts will be temporary or permanent. I can’t believe the Radical Left Democrats gave me this unprecedented opportunity.”
The judge’s ruling barred the administration from enforcing any portion of the RIFs against the plaintiffs until the TRO is lifted and set a future hearing date on the matter for Oct. 28.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee, and co-signed by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and the Department of Commerce submitted letters to leaders at HUD and the Treasury with a series of questions about the specifics of the RIF.
Warren wrote that the RIFs are not a necessary part of the government shutdown that began Oct. 1 as “in recent years, shutdowns under both Republic and Democratic administrations have ended through bipartisan negotiation — not the arbitrary dismantling of federal agencies and programs that serve millions of Americans. Furthermore, the shutdown ‘provides no new legal authority for an agency to engage in widespread firings.’”
Warren posited that if the RIFs are fully implemented, HUD’s “ability to comply with its statutory mandates once the government reopens” will be greatly impacted. “The Trump administration already diminished HUD’s capacity to function through mass firings, RIFs, and deferred resignation programs in early 2025. These new RIFs will only further incapacitate the agency and make it difficult — if not impossible — to serve the American public.”
Warren raised similar concerns regarding RIFs at the Treasury and Department of Commerce.
Warren requested that the agencies provide the following information by Oct. 22:
- An organizational chart describing all relevant divisions, subdivisions, offices and programs of the agency in effect as of Jan. 20, including the total number of employees at each.
- The same organizational chart describing all relevant divisions, subdivisions, offices and programs of the agency in effect as of Sept. 30, after close of business, including the total number of employees at each.
- Copies of all RIF notices, plans, and guidance sent to agency employees on or after Oct. 10, including the total number of employees that would be employed should the RIF go into effect. Also provide a detailed description of the agency’s capacity to comply with statutory mandates, along with a description for each division, subdivision, office and program, should the RIF go into effect.
- Copies of all agency RIF and reorganization plans (ARRPs) submitted to OMB and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). Specifically, provide:
- The “Phase 1 ARRPs,” and any accompanying materials, due to OPM and OMB on March 13.
- The “Phase 2 ARRPs,” and any accompanying materials, due to OPM and OMB on April 14.
- The “monthly progress reports,” and any accompanying materials, due to OPM and OMB on May 14, June 16 and July 16.
- Analysis of how the ARRPs submitted to OMB and OPM interact with any RIF notices described above.