Agencies across government have made preparations to quickly implement layoffs if a court order blocking them is lifted, leaving thousands of civil servants on the verge of losing their jobs should upcoming rulings go in favor of the Trump administration.
Much of the work required for implementing reductions in force has already taken place or is ongoing, according to 10 current federal employees and internal documents obtained by Government Executive, well positioning many agencies to swiftly deliver notices to broad swaths of their workforces. They remain enjoined from doing so following multiple court orders, but the Trump administration is now seeking relief before a potentially friendlier Supreme Court.
Most major federal agencies cannot lay off employees or institute reorganization plans previously ordered by President Trump after a district judge in California blocked those actions indefinitely. An appeals court declined to stand in the way of that order and the Trump administration has asked for the high court to weigh in. Justice Elena Kagan has asked the plaintiffs in that case to file a response to the administration’s appeal by next week.
In a filing with the Supreme Court, the Trump administration said 40 RIF actions were underway at 17 agencies when the injunction came down.
The Interior Department is looking to move swiftly to implement its layoffs should the injunction be lifted, according to several employees familiar with the matter. Prior to the court order, Interior was on the verge of laying off 1,500 employees at the National Park Service, 1,000 employees at the U.S. Geological Survey, 100 to 150 employees at the Bureau of Reclamation and more staff at other components.
Employees reported little in the way of official communication from leadership, but signs indicated the department was ready to begin implementation. “From what I could tell,” said one human resources official at Interior, the department had all of its ducks in a row just before the injunction came down.
“I would expect s— to happen fast,” the official said.
One employee familiar with the planning said their understanding was “preliminary efforts are still underway in the interest of preparedness” and they have seen “ongoing and clandestine readiness activities.” Another official said the RIFs are expected to occur “ASAP” upon the potential injunction lift.
“It’s all packed and stacked to go,” the official said. All the files are in place and delivering the notices is likely to occur “quickly and swiftly.”
A regional employee at Interior said their supervisors have not offered detail on the expected timeline of layoffs, but have encouraged staff “to seek other opportunities if we need to.”
In the meantime, Interior has opened up new training for later this month to assist supervisors in firing employees engaging in poor performance or misconduct. While the training itself was not unusual, employees were taken aback by its title: “Uncivil Servant – Holding Employees Accountable for Performance & Conduct.”
At the Agriculture Department, Secretary Brooke Rollins has said her team is ready to deploy a major reorganization as soon as the injunction lifts. Those reforms are expected to include thousands of layoffs and relocations.
“The plan is ready,” Rollins told reporters at an event in Nebraska last month, according to Progressive Farmer. “We’re ready to announce it. We’re excited about it. It’s going to be about realigning and refocusing USDA around its original intended mission.”
She added the overhaul “got caught up in litigation” but would be implemented “hopefully as soon as possible.”
One employee briefed on the plans at their USDA component said they expect that to happen quickly if the injunction is lifted.
“They had it ready to go,” the employee said. “So I think it will go out.”
Another employee said the workplace has taken on an eerie quality as leadership has gone silent, all weekly meetings have been canceled and some senior executives have been sent out on temporary assignments at the state level to conduct “busy work.”
“It is so quiet you can hear a mouse p— on cotton,” the employee said.
A USDA spokesperson said the department does not comment on pending litigation. Interior did not respond to a request for comment.
The State Department, meanwhile, is hoping to move forward with its RIFs even if the injunction remains in place. It has told the judge who issued it that its plans are separate from President Trump’s orders and therefore not subject to the pause, though the court said that would likely violate its mandate and will hold a hearing on the matter next week.
State is continuing to move forward, however. On Thursday night, State sent a message to all civil service employees asking them to upload their resumes to an internal site by June 13 to “prepare for the reorganization.” They also asked staff to ensure all the information in their personnel files was accurate. Those steps are common just before agencies implement RIFs to enable HR offices to ensure they are relying on up-to-date information and determine their employee eligibility for other positions if they are laid off. Interior and the Internal Revenue Service previously sent out similar requests.
A Justice Department attorney told the court this week that State could move forward with its layoffs as soon as June 13. State is expected to shed more than 3,400 employees, as Government Executive first reported, though it will rely on both reductions in force and voluntary separations to meet that total.
Some agencies that have already implemented RIF notices are also swept in the injunction, preventing them from actually separating employees. Agencies generally must give either 30 or 60 days before RIFs take effect.
The Education Department is operating under a separate, Education-specific injunction that required employees who received RIF notices to be restored to their jobs. Because those employees are currently sitting on administrative leave, the states that brought the case said the department is not in compliance with the order. The judge will hold a hearing on that issue next week, which follows the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit this week declining to block the injunction.
Education recently messaged RIF-impacted staff to let them know they would not be let go June 10 as originally planned, but asked for information regarding any employment they have obtained in the meantime. The department requested details about job offers and whether employees would accept those or come back to Education.
The Health and Human Services Department has similarly been forced to pause the offboarding of the roughly 10,000 employees to whom it previously issued layoff notices. Those employees were originally slated to be off the rolls by June 1, but now remain on paid administrative leave. The Internal Revenue Service has also begun issuing RIFs that are now paused, and significantly more were expected prior to the injunction.
Employees are growing impatient with the uncertainty. An employee still at Education said some colleagues are stuck in a difficult situation, deciding whether to take new jobs or hold out hope their reinstatements will last. They do not want to take another job if they will be recalled, but also remain skeptical that will ever happen.
An Interior employee said they want to have a final answer.
“I almost wish there wasn’t a delay so we can just get it over with,” the employee said. “I feel like it’s inevitable.”
A USDA employee said they have two job offers and have to decide if they want to relocate for them, which will pose both personal and financial challenges.
“I need to know ASAP,” the employee said. “Would rather just rip the band aid off already.”
Natalie Alms and David DiMolfetta contributed to this report.
