WASHINGTON >> The White House announced today that it had started to conduct another round of layoffs targeting federal workers, forging ahead with President Donald Trump’s threats to cut agencies and cull the government workforce during the shutdown.

In a post on social media, Russell Vought, the White House budget director, said only that the “RIFs have begun,” referring to the reduction-in-force notices that inform federal employees about pending dismissals.

Vought did not specify how many workers, or at which agencies, would be cut at a moment when hundreds of thousands are furloughed and others are still reporting for duty without pay. But a White House official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, described the forthcoming cuts as substantial.

The administration’s efforts to

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