White House pushes for more firings as judge blocks shutdown layoffs
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OMB Direction Russell Vought speaks with reporters. Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images
The White House threatened to fire thousands more federal employees Wednesday, and rolled out new hiring standards for those who'll replace them — then a judge issued an order complicating the whole process.
Why it matters: President Trump is using the government shutdown to further his push to completely upend the federal workforce.
State of play: OMB director Russell Vought said Wednesday that more than 10,000 federal workers could end up getting fired during the shutdown.
- That's more than twice as many terminations as the White House said it was conducting just last week in court filings.
Yes, but: Wednesday afternoon, federal judge Susan Illston in San Francisco temporarily blocked those layoffs.
- "It's very much ready, fire, aim on most of these programs, and it has a human cost," she said at the hearing, according to the AP's report. "It's a human cost that cannot be tolerated."
Zoom out: At almost the same time, Trump issued an Executive Order laying out new hiring policies.
- The order directs agencies to create staffing plans that align "with Administration priorities," and notes that 300,000 federal employees have left the workforce this year, more than double the historic average — and a result of programs meant to encourage them to leave.
Catch up quick: In court filings last week, the White House said it planned to lay off at least 4,100 federal workers.
- Some of the firing notices that went out on Friday have already been rescinded at the Department of Health and Human Services.
What they're saying: "Much of the reporting has been based on kind of court snapshots," Vought said Wednesday on the Charlie Kirk Show, broadcast from the White House.
- "I think it'll get much higher," he added. "I think we'll probably end up being somewhere north of 10,000."
Vought also highlighted what he's done to close down the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, or CFPB.
- "We don't have anyone working there except our Republican appointees and a few careers that are doing statutory responsibilities while we close down the agency."
- Vought acknowledged that consumer protection, the mission of the CFPB, is important, but added: "This agency wasn't doing it. It had the DNA of Elizabeth Warren."
- Kirk show producer Andrew Kolvet responded, "OK, that's it. You've convinced me."
Of note: Vice President JD Vance and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also appeared on the show, the day after Trump posthumously awarded Kirk the presidential Medal of Freedom.
Editor's note: This story has been updated with details on the judge's ruling and from the White House.
