'Substantial' Government Layoffs Have Begun

https://www.zerohedge.com/poli...fs-have-begun-vought

The White House has begun laying off a "substantial" number of government employees, OMB Director Russ Vought announced Friday on X.

"The RIFs have begun," Vought wrote, referring to reduction-in-force plans.

"Can confirm RIFs have begun and they are substantial," an OMB spokesperson told POLITICO, adding "These are RIFs not furloughs."

The news comes on the 10th day of the government shutdown after Senate Democrats insisted on maintaining Obama-era benefits that include illegal immigrants, and both sides of the aisle have repeatedly failed to pass subsequent packages to fund the government.

According to the report, the layoffs have hit agencies including: Interior, Homeland Security, Treasury, EPA, Commerce, Education, Energy, HHS and HUD.

On Thursday, Trump said his administration would target programs backed by Democrats - saying during a cabinet meeting: "We’re only cutting Democrat programs, I hate to tell you, but we are cutting Democrat programs," adding "We will be cutting some very popular Democrat programs that aren’t popular with Republicans, frankly."

The move follows an OMB memo leaked two weeks ago which ordered Trump administration officials to prepare to carry out reduction-in-force (RIF) plans during the shutdown, targeting employees that aren't legally required - OR, those which conflict with Trump's priorities.

Democrats are of course freaking out.

"We believe that they are not only unethical and immoral but illegal for him to be RIFing people in a shutdown," said Rep. Sarah Elfreth (D-MD) on Friday.

The cuts also come hours ahead of a court deadline for the DOJ to file a report detailing any plans to terminate workers during the shutdown - ahead of an Oct. 16 hearing on a request by federal worker unions to block layoffs.

Over 2/3 of civilian federal employees have remained on the job during the shutdown, between essential workers or jobs that receive longer-term funding. The vast majority of employees are going without pay.

https://x.com/EricLDaugh/status/1976625782077227332

https://x.com/libsoftiktok/status/1976731001201344614

Trump admin ending LGBT, ‘family planning’ programs due to government shutdown

https://www.lifesitenews.com/n...-14&utm_medium=email

The Trump administration is firing activist workers and cutting programs that pushed abortifacients, birth control, and pro-LGBT ‘sex education’ for minors.

The Trump administration has laid off thousands of Department of Health and Human Services workers due to the government shutdown, including those that work on “family planning” and “LGBTQ health” issues.

A former Biden official complained to the pro-LGBT website The Advocate about the cuts. Self-described LGBT “activist” Adrian Shanker was “deputy assistant secretary for health policy and senior adviser on LGBTQ+ health equity under the Biden administration,” according to the publication. He also founded an LGBT “community center” that hosted drag queen story hours, as previously reported by LifeSiteNews. He has written about “queer health activism,” along with several publications with sexually inappropriate names.

He said the cuts by Trump have been “ideological.”

“These are the programs that centered [so-called] reproductive and queer health, and now they’re gone,” Shanker said.

The Office of Population Affairs, which has effectively been shut down, facilitated “sex education” for “LGBTQ+ youth,” the magazine reported.

The office has been criticized for promoting birth control and abortion, as the name implies. Under President Barack Obama, for example, the office promoted abortifacient birth control as a means of controlling the spread of the Zika virus (though the connection is unclear).

The agency also oversees the Title X “family planning” program, which subsidizes birth control so women can have fewer babies. Planned Parenthood is a major recipient of this funding, and so the office acts as a conduit to funnel taxpayer dollars to the nation’s largest abortion vendor.

The government shutdown officially began on October 1 and has necessitated a “reduction in force,” which means layoffs across the federal government.

The administration is using the layoffs as an opportunity to cut programs favored by Democrats, according to President Trump.

“We’re only cutting Democrat programs, I hate to tell you, but we are cutting Democrat programs,” Trump said during a recent cabinet meeting, as reported by Politico. “We will be cutting some very popular Democrat programs that aren’t popular with Republicans, frankly.”

Republicans maintain that Democrats are keeping the government shutdown because of Obamacare subsidies, which could be used to subsidize abortions.

“It’s disgusting that Democrats are shutting down the government to continue to hide the failures of Obamacare with massive taxpayer-funded subsidy checks to insurance companies that can fund abortions and [transgender] surgeries,” Florida Senator Rick Scott told The Daily Signal. “Republicans cannot allow American taxpayers to foot the bill for Democrats’ liberal wish list that lets this happen.”

This is starting to piss me off. I've got some pending business with the FCC and they are essentially shut down.

I don't know why Thune doesn't just go nuclear and end this. The point has been made.

quote:

"We believe that they are not only unethical and immoral but illegal for him to be RIFing people in a shutdown," said Rep. Sarah Elfreth (D-MD) on Friday.

That’s the difference between Trump being the Executive under Article II and you Sarah, being a member of Congress under Article I.
Now you want to dabble in Article III powers granted to the Judiciary…you aren’t qualified!

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:
I don't know why Thune doesn't just go nuclear and end this. The point has been made.

Not sure what you mean by “go nuclear and end this”.

The only point I see being made is the R’s finally growing some semblance of a spine and not doing the D’s work for them.

The "nuclear option". 51 votes rather than 60.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQcLIkS43Cc

Going on three weeks now and I still have not personally noticed any difference between the gov't being open or closed.

quote:

Originally posted by bigwagon:
Going on three weeks now and I still have not personally noticed any difference between the gov't being open or closed.

Well, they did delay announcing the Social Security COLA from 10/15 to 10/24.

Medicare stopped processing claims yesterday. That will have a sustained downstream effect on providers and facilities, some of which are operating on pretty thin cash flow anyway.

quote:

Originally posted by bigwagon:
Going on three weeks now and I still have not personally noticed any difference between the gov't being open or closed.

Well, I have two submitted NFA transfer forms that I’d sure like to have processed. I was averaging about five days per and as you say, going on three weeks, so I’m sure noticing a difference. Would that the people who do the paperwork that are barriers to our 2A rights being exercised were considered “essential,” but you can be damn sure they’re still collecting taxes. Fuckers.

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:
The "nuclear option". 51 votes rather than 60.

Yep. It is past time. Maybe we don't have 51? Or maybe we are just letting the Dems continue to bury themselves.



.

quote:

Originally posted by TigerDore:

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:
The "nuclear option". 51 votes rather than 60.

Yep. It is past time. Maybe we don't have 51? Or maybe we are just letting the Dems continue to bury themselves.
.

They've been getting at least 2 D's on all these votes, so it's not that. I really can't picture Thune breaking that(60 vote) precedent, don't forget he's a McConnell guy.

https://x.com/RNCResearch/status/1978847556282069456

Govt Shutdown Proves There’s No Point to Dept. of Education, Says Education Secretary.

https://thenationalpulse.com/2...education-secretary/

The Senate Democrats’ ongoing government shutdown has shown the U.S. Department of Education to be a largely unnecessary and redundant federal agency, according to Education Secretary Linda McMahon. “The Democrat government shutdown has forced agencies to evaluate what federal responsibilities are truly critical for the American people. Two weeks in, millions of American students are still going to school, teachers are getting paid, and schools are operating as normal,” McMahon stated in a post on X (formerly Twitter).McMahon emphasized that the shutdown’s lack of disruption of local education and schools supports President Donald J. Trump‘s argument that education should be returned to the states. “It confirms what the President has said: the federal Department of Education is unnecessary, and we should return education to the states,” she added.

Earlier this year, President Trump signed an Executive Order aimed at dismantling the Department of Education. Despite fearmongering by Democrats, Trump assured that “the department’s useful functions [such as] Pell Grants, Title I funding, resources for children with disabilities and special needs, will be preserved, fully preserved.” He noted these functions would be shifted to other agencies while the department itself would be shut down.

McMahon also highlighted that no education funding is impacted by the reduction in force (RIF) and that the clean continuing resolution (CR) supported by the Trump Administration would ensure states and schools receive the necessary funding to support students, including those in special education programs.

quote:

Originally posted by P220 Smudge:

quote:

Originally posted by bigwagon:
Going on three weeks now and I still have not personally noticed any difference between the gov't being open or closed.

Well, I have two submitted NFA transfer forms that I’d sure like to have processed. I was averaging about five days per and as you say, going on three weeks, so I’m sure noticing a difference. Would that the people who do the paperwork that are barriers to our 2A rights being exercised were considered “essential,” but you can be damn sure they’re still collecting taxes. Fuckers.

Fear not and stay the course! HOLD! HOLD! HOLD!

https://x.com/GunOwners/status/1979192887897162232

I’m a federal worker who is furloughed. The work keeps piling up waiting for me. I’m ready to get back for various reasons.

SCOTUS and the rest of the judiciary is ran out of operating cash yesterday.

As such, the courts are no longer doing anything other than "essential services."