The White House announces the start of layoffs of US government employees

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The White House announces the start of layoffs of US government employees

White House Budget Director Russell Vought said that the administration of US President Donald Trump has begun laying off a number of federal employees, in light of the continued government shutdown, describing the layoffs as "significant" In terms of number.

The US Health Agency confirmed – as reported by Bloomberg News Agency – Some of its employees received dismissal notices, and the Director of Communications at the Ministry of Health and Human Services, Andrew Nixon, said that employees in several departments within the ministry received dismissal notices, explaining that 41% of the ministry’s 78,000 employees had been asked not to come to work during the closure, while others were asked to continue working without pay, adding that the dismissal decisions targeted employees who had been fired. They were previously temporarily laid off.

Nixon said that the department continues to close wasteful and duplicative entities, including those that conflict with President Trump’s agenda.

Trump had repeatedly threatened during the government shutdown crisis to fire government employees, noting that He will mainly target what he described as “Democratic agencies,” and he also ordered the freeze of at least $28 billion in infrastructure funds allocated to New York, California, and Illinois, states with majorities of Democratic voters and among the most prominent critics of his administration.

Republicans who need Led by Trump, they control both chambers of Congress, but they need at least seven Democratic votes to pass a temporary financing project in the Senate, where Democrats insist on extending subsidies for Americans who buy health insurance through a government program.

It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of federal employees They were asked not to go to work during the closure, while about 300,000 government civil servants are expected to leave their jobs this year as part of the campaign to reduce the government apparatus launched by Trump.

For their part, labor unions representing federal employees have filed lawsuits to stop the layoffs, considering that dismissing employees during the closure period is illegal, and it is scheduled that A federal court will hold a hearing to consider the case on October 16.

The law stipulates that employees must be given advance notice 60 days before any layoff, but this period can be reduced to 30 days in some cases.