White House budget chief says layoffs have begun amid shutdown

President Trump’s budget chief Friday said mass layoffs of federal workers have begun as the government shutdown stretches on with no end in sight.

There was no immediate further confirmation and scant details about how many workers might be fired nor a breakdown of the impact on various government departments.

“The RIF’s have begun,” tweeted Russ Vought, the Office of Management and Budget chief, using the abbreviation for reductions in force, or layoffs.

A spokesperson for the budget office only said the reductions are “substantial.”

The beleaguered Education Department is among the agencies hit by the layoffs, along with the Department of Health and Human Services, spokespeople said. Both agencies have already been hit with substantial workforce reductions since President Tru