The Trump administration announced plans on Oct. 10, 2025, to lay off more than 4,000 federal workers through reduction-in-force (RIF) procedures, citing the need to trim costs during the government shutdown. RIF is the formal process federal agencies use to eliminate positions and lay off civil service employees, governed by complex regulations in Title 5 of the Code of Federal Regulations requiring specific justifications, competitive procedures, and notice periods. The administration claimed the shutdown necessitated immediate workforce reductions to preserve limited funds, but critics argued this violated laws protecting federal workers and was politically motivated to reshape the bureaucracy.

U.S. District Judge SISusan Illston in 🌴California issued a temporary restraining order on Oct. 15, 2025, blocking all Trump administration layoffs after the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) filed suit. AFGE represents 800,000 federal workers across 75 agencies and argued the RIF actions were arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act, meaning the administration failed to follow required procedures for determining which positions to eliminate and did not provide adequate rationale for the firings. Judge Illston found AFGE was likely to succeed on the merits and that federal workers would suffer irreparable harm without the injunction.

The Interior Department planned the largest share of layoffs, with more than 2,000 employees targeted for termination out of roughly 70,000 total Interior staff. These included staff from the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, and other agencies managing federal lands, natural resources, and tribal relations. Interior officials claimed the shutdown forced them to identify positions that were not essential for maintaining minimal operations, but the scale of cuts—nearly 3% of the entire department workforce—suggested broader restructuring goals.

The Senate legislation includes explicit language reversing all RIF notices: The bill states that RIF notices issued since Oct. 1 shall have no force or effect and that any employee who received notice of being subject to such a reduction in force shall have that notice rescinded and be returned to employment status as of Sept. 30, 2025, without interruption. Affected employees must receive written notification within five calendar days of enactment informing them of their reinstatement date and the specific amount of back pay owed.

The bill prohibits any new federal layoffs through Jan. 30, 2026, stating that no federal funds may be used to initiate, carry out, implement, or otherwise notice a reduction in force to reduce the number of employees within any department, agency, or office of the federal government. This language was a key priority for Sen. Tim Kaine (🏛️Virginia), who represents roughly 300,000 federal workers and their families living in Northern Virginia suburbs. Kaine called it "a moratorium on mischief" and said "the non-strategic mass firings that have traumatized federal employees since Inauguration Day cannot happen anymore under this provision."

Federal employees who were fired or received RIF notices are entitled to all pay to which they otherwise would have been entitled in the absence of receiving such notice, including backpay and all benefits such as health insurance contributions and retirement contributions. The 2019 Government Employee Fair Treatment Act, which President Trump signed during his first term after the 2018-2019 shutdown, guarantees back pay for all federal workers—both those who worked during shutdowns (excepted employees like TSA and air traffic controllers) and those who were furloughed. The new legislation extends this protection to workers who were fired through RIF during the shutdown.

The Trump administration attempt to conduct mass layoffs during a shutdown raised constitutional questions about separation of powers and whether the executive branch can eliminate positions that Congress funded in previous appropriations laws. Federal workers have civil service protections under the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 and the Pendleton Act of 1883 that require agencies to follow specific merit-based procedures before terminating employees, including showing that positions are truly unnecessary and providing affected workers with notice, reasons, and appeal rights through the Merit Systems Protection Board.

The RIF ban expires on Jan. 30, 2026, when the continuing resolution funding runs out. Unless Congress passes permanent protections or includes RIF ban language in subsequent funding bills, the Trump administration can resume layoff efforts after that date. This sets up another confrontation between the White House and federal employee unions, with AFGE and the National Treasury Employees Union already preparing legislative campaigns and member mobilization to make the RIF ban permanent. Federal workforce advocates worry Trump will simply wait until Feb. 1 to restart the same mass firing plans that were blocked during the shutdown.

On Oct. 28, 2025, Judge SISusan Illston converted her temporary restraining order into a preliminary injunction, formally barring agencies from carrying out shutdown-related RIFs while the unions' lawsuit proceeds. In hearings summarized by GovExec and FedScoop, she suggested the layoffs looked politically motivated and inconsistent with Title 5 rules, a sign that courts will not always defer when the executive branch tries to use budget crises as a pretext to fire disfavored workers.

Eight unions—including AFGE, NTEU, AFSCME, and others—joined forces in the RIF lawsuit, pooling legal resources and giving the case national reach rather than confining it to one agency or region. That kind of multi-union strategy shows how organized labor can act as a counterweight when a president moves to slash the civil service, and why presidents who target federal workers often find themselves facing coordinated litigation instead of isolated complaints.