Trump's mass layoff plan back on track, White House prepares for sweeping job cuts

After the Supreme judicial paved the way for a massive reduction in the size of the government workforce, two senior White House officials with knowledge of the situation said the White House is closely examining federal agency layoff plans in an attempt to prevent more judicial challenges.

According to one person, the Office of Personnel Management and the White House Counsel’s Office are working with federal agencies to make sure their plans adhere to the law. This involves adhering to congressional mandates, such as those governing the manner in which layoffs must take place and the bare minimum of employees that an agency must maintain.

The official stated that the goal is to proceed swiftly but failed to provide a precise timeline for when layoffs will start.

“The goal is to simplify the size of the federal government, so we will do what we need to do to reach that goal,” the official said, calling the downsizing an “immediate priority.”

The Supreme Court’s decision on Tuesday opened the door for President Donald Trump’s administration to pursue thousands of government job cuts across multiple agencies. While administration officials have called the effort a streamlining of government, unions and their allies warn the layoffs will disrupt lives and essential services, and hollow out agencies already stretched thin.

The White House on Tuesday had applauded the Supreme Court ruling but stopped short of saying agencies could immediately execute the workforce reduction plans they drafted at Trump’s direction earlier this year.

With hundreds of thousands of unionized federal workers, large-scale layoffs must also comply with labor contracts or risk additional legal challenges.

Legal experts say that even if the administration meets basic legal thresholds, agencies may still face broader lawsuits related to due process, civil service protections, union rights and public access to services.

One of the senior officials said the administration expects legal challenges.

“You’re just going to see in the coming days, the different plans that sort of come out … they’re going to be legally sound, (but) they’re still gonna get lawsuits, because that’s just the way it goes,” the official said.

On Thursday, the US State Department said it was moving forward with its plan to lay off employees. The department is widely expected to send the first notices of employment termination on Friday. In late May, the agency had proposed laying off nearly 2,000 employees.

Upon taking office in January, Trump launched a campaign to downsize the 2.3 million-strong federal civilian workforce, an effort led by billionaire Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency.

By late April, the project had resulted in the firing, resignations and early retirements of 260,000 federal employees, according to a Reuters tally.

The US departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Health and Human Services, State, Treasury, Veterans Affairs and more than a dozen other agencies submitted layoff plans to the White House in March to reduce staff. Months of legal uncertainty have left those plans stuck in limbo until this week’s ruling.