WASHINGTON—As the clock ticks toward a potential government shutdown next week, reports indicate the sweeping layoffs floated by the Trump Administration may not materialize.
While White House budget chief Russ Vought directed agencies to prepare reduction-in-force plans, several departments—including EPA and Transportation—have signaled they are not planning mass firings tied to a funding lapse. Instead, agency leaders say they remain bound by statutory obligations even as shutdown deadlines loom and congressional negotiations drag into the final days.
POLITICO reported that EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, told Hugh Hewitt that a funding lapse won’t drive his plans to cut EPA staffing levels. Zeldin still aims to shrink the agency to 12,500 workers, however, which would be reverting to a staffing level of the Reagan administration, down from just over 16,000 workers when Trump took office. But the administrator noted that he still needs to carry out the agency’s “statutory obligations.”
At the Department of Transportation, no big plans for shutdown layoffs have been announced either. One DOT employee, granted anonymity to speak candidly to POLITOCO, said they are "not really sure" how the directive will affect the department. Another said they hadn't heard anything directly from leadership. And a third person familiar with DOT's operations told the news outlet: "They are still trying to figure out what they’re doing."
POLITICO reported that Senate Republicans may hold off on voting on the House-passed stopgap measure until Tuesday—the final day before government funding runs out, according to three people familiar with the private discussions. In the House, GOP leaders are holding back until they see how the Senate acts before recalling members to Washington.