The U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., is seen on a cloudy and foggy morning, March 6, 2024.
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The White House warned federal agencies to prepare for mass firings if Congress does not reach a deal to fund the government before next Wednesday.
A memo released Wednesday by the Office of Management and Budget told agencies whose funding expires Oct. 1 — and which do not have alternative funding sources and are “not consistent with the President’s priorities” — to consider issuing reduction-in-force notices for employees.
The warning ratchets up the pressure on Congress to strike a deal to avert a government shutdown, as thousands of government workers’ jobs could be on the line.
In past shutdowns, federal workers were typically temporarily furloughed until a budget deal was reached.
In 2013, the last year that there was a full government shutdown, about 850,000 employees were furloughed, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.
“Programs that did not benefit from an infusion of mandatory appropriations will bear the brunt of a shutdown,” OMB said in the memo, which was first reported on by Politico. CNBC separately obtained the document.
The memo is the latest attempt to pressure Congressional Democrats to agree to a deal with Republicans to avert a shutdown.
“We remain hopeful that Democrats in Congress will not trigger a shutdown and the steps outlined above will not be necessary,” the memo said.
But with just days to go until late Tuesday night, when government funding is set to expire, lawmakers are still far from striking a deal.
Democrats are holding firm on demands that any legislation must include an extension of the Affordable Care Act’s enhanced tax credits, which are currently set to expire at the end of the year.
Earlier this month, the House passed a stopgap spending measure that would have funded the government through Nov. 21. But Senate Democrats blocked the measure.
Democrats quickly condemned the OMB memo.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called it “an attempt at intimidation.”
“Donald Trump has been firing federal workers since day one — not to govern, but to scare,” Schumer said. “This is nothing new and has nothing to do with funding the government,” he said.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries accused Trump and “MAGA extremists” of “plotting mass firings of federal workers starting October 1.”
Jeffries, D-N.Y., an X post blasted OMB Director Russell Vought.
“Listen Russ, you are a malignant political hack. We will not be intimidated by your threat to engage in mass firings,” Jeffries wrote. “Get lost.”
“Their goal is to ruin your life and punish hardworking families already struggling with Trump Tariffs and inflation,” Jeffries, D-N.Y., wrote in another tweet.
“Remember in November,” he said, referring to next year’s mid-term elections, when every House seat will be up for grabs.
