The Trump administration is preparing to eliminate more than 10,000 federal jobs during the ongoing government shutdown, a move described by White House budget director Russell Vought as part of a broader effort to "shutter the bureaucracy." Speaking Wednesday on The Charlie Kirk Show, broadcast from the White House, Vought said the cuts will go "north of 10,000," expanding far beyond the roughly 4,200 layoffs the administration reported earlier in court filings.
"We want to be very aggressive where we can be in shuttering the bureaucracy, not just the funding," Vought said. "We now have an opportunity to do that, and that's where we're going to be looking for our opportunities." His remarks came hours before a federal judge intervened to temporarily block the firings.
U.S. District Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco issued a temporary restraining order halting the layoffs, telling government attorneys that "the activities that are being undertaken here are contrary to the laws." At the hearing, Illston warned of the "human cost" of the administration's rapid cuts, adding, "It's very much ready, fire, aim on most of these programs, and it has a human cost that cannot be tolerated," according to the Associated Press.
The layoffs are part of an escalating confrontation between the Trump administration and federal worker unions, which have filed lawsuits to challenge the firings. Vought confirmed that the government's reduction-in-force notices-known as RIFs-represent only a "snapshot" of what is to come. "I think it'll get much higher, and we're going to keep those RIFs rolling throughout this shutdown, because we think it's important," he said.
Among the programs Vought singled out for cuts are the Department of Energy's Green New Deal initiatives, environmental justice programs at the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Commerce Department's Minority Business Development Agency. He also identified the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) as targets.
Vought, who also serves as the acting director of the CFPB, said he plans to close the agency "within the next two, three months." He criticized the bureau's origins, saying it has "the DNA of Elizabeth Warren" and has sought to "weaponize" the law against small financial institutions. "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," he added.
The administration's aggressive approach has already triggered disruption across departments. Some layoff notices sent last Friday have been rescinded at the Department of Health and Human Services, but thousands of workers remain in limbo. Both furloughed employees and those deemed "excepted" have gone without pay for weeks as the funding lapse drags on.
The broader scale of the cuts could reshape federal employment patterns in Washington, where job attrition already topped 300,000 this year, according to a White House executive order on hiring policy released Wednesday. The District of Columbia's unemployment rate has surged to one of the highest in the nation as agencies shed workers.
President Donald Trump, meanwhile, has moved to protect active-duty personnel from the fallout. He issued a presidential memorandum directing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to use any remaining congressional funds to continue paying members of the military during the shutdown.
