U.S. President Donald Trump. UPI=Yonhap News. 

As the federal government faces a partial shutdown exceeding ten days due to the failure of Congress to pass a temporary spending bill, the Donald Trump administration is expected to lay off at least 4,100 public servants, utilizing the shutdown as a catalyst.

According to reports by U.S. media outlets such as Axios and The Hill on the 11th (local time), the Trump administration stated in a recent court filing that it plans to reduce its workforce by more than 4,100 people across departments, including the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of the Treasury.

Stephen Billy, a senior advisor at the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), stated in the filing that Reduction in Force (RIF) notices have already been issued or are scheduled to be sent to 1,100–1,200 employees at the Department of Health and Human Services, 1,446 at the Department of the Treasury, and 466 at the Department of Education.

The filing also indicated that 315 employees from the Department of Commerce, 187 from the Department of Energy, 442 from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), 176 from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and 10–30 from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are slated for reduction.

This information was disclosed in the government's court response to a lawsuit filed by the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), a federal public sector union, which sought to halt the layoffs just before the shutdown began.

Senior Advisor Billy noted, "The situation regarding the budget suspension is fluid and changing rapidly," adding, "Therefore, these figures reflect the most up-to-date information available as of now and are subject to change."

A day earlier, Russell Vought, Director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, announced via his X (formerly Twitter) account that "RIFs have begun."

The American Federation of Government Employees urged, "Federal employees are tired of being used as scapegoats for the political and personal interests of their leaders, whether elected or appointed," adding, "It is time for Congress to do its job and end the shutdown immediately."

The union maintains that conducting layoffs during a federal government shutdown is illegal.

President Trump has characterized federal employees as a "deep state" and has been carrying out massive personnel reductions since retaking office in January.

Even before the current shutdown, the Trump administration had signaled its intent to focus workforce reductions on departments that do not align with its policy priorities.

With more than 200,000 employees already cut this year alone, Axios projected that this latest reduction measure would deal another blow to the federal workforce.

In particular, the scale of layoffs triggered by the shutdown could significantly exceed 4,100.

President Trump told reporters at the White House the previous day, "The number (of layoffs) will be announced in a few days, and it will be a lot of people."

A senior government official told The Hill, "There will be additional personnel reductions."

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