Trump White House orders more federal layoffs amid shutdown

Geoff Bennett:

As the federal government shutdown heads into its second weekend, the Trump administration has started what it says are substantial layoffs of federal workers.

The president and his team had suggested this would be coming, but it was Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought who made it official on social media this afternoon, stating simply: "The RIFs have begun."

For more on what agencies might be affected by this reduction in force, we turn to our congressional correspondent, Lisa Desjardins.

Lisa, you have been working the phones all afternoon.

Lisa Desjardins:

Yes.

Geoff Bennett:

What have you learned?

Lisa Desjardins:

Our whole team has.

Well, President Trump actually just spoke to reporters a few minutes ago. And he said the layoffs, there will be a lot of them, but that numbers will still be coming. We don't have the numbers yet. So there is a real question here about how widespread these substantial RIFs, or layoffs, are, as we have been told by the Office of Management and Budget.

Are they really large, or is it that the administration wants them to be perceived that way, so that they can leverage and pressure Democrats, among others? One thing we do know a little bit about is where they are happening. From our calls and sourcing today, we can report that these eight agencies will be seeing these mass layoffs.

This includes some large agencies like Department of Homeland Security, the Treasury and Education. Many of these did experience large staffing cuts, either from the DOGE retirement plan or from previous layoffs. Now, again, we don't know how large they are. The IRS has confirmed to me that there are in fact mass layoffs happening there, again, don't know how large.

There is a union that has said they think perhaps 1,300 People may have been laid off at Treasury, but we need to see the notices. And one reason that's important is, when do these take effect? Thirty days, by law, is the minimum notice that must be given for these reductions in force.

Geoff Bennett:

And, as we said, there's a lot we don't know. But are there specific examples of agencies or programs that have been targeted for these cuts?

Lisa Desjardins:

We do know of one where we can get specific.

This is a subagency of the Department of Homeland Security. It's known as CISA. That stands for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. They watch basically the digital world, the Internet, protect Americans from threats from that area.

Now, I know, I have reported — well, first of all, the agency is about 2,500 people, for perspective; 127 of them are going to be laid off or have been laid off. So that's about 5 percent of the agency. But here's the thing. They are all within one subdivision, a subdivision that specializes in dealing with corporations and social media, the same subdivision that Republicans say took down political speech, and it is the one that was blocking disinformation dealing with Facebook.

So that's a targeted agency that Republicans don't like; 70 percent of that group is being cut here. I bring this up because President Trump also just told reporters that, again, this will be Democratic-oriented cuts. So we have to watch. What does this mean agency to agency? How much of it is about policy?

Geoff Bennett:

Lisa Desjardins, our thanks to you, as always.

Lisa Desjardins:

You're welcome.