The Trump administration is signaling that a government shutdown on Wednesday could lead to more firings. Democrats say its an intimidation tactic.
If the government shuts down on Wednesday, many more federal workers could permanently lose their jobs.
That’s the implication of a new memo to federal agency heads from President Donald Trump’s Office of Management and Budget, obtained by BI on Thursday.
The memo directs agency heads to « consider » reduction-in-force notices for employees in programs that are « not consistent with the President’s priorities » and that will lose funding if the government shuts down.
« We remain hopeful that Democrats in Congress will not trigger a shutdown and the steps outlined above will not be necessary », the memo concludes.
It’s unclear how many workers could be affected by potential reductions in force.
