White House: Mass federal layoffs could begin Friday as shutdown continues

🔍 Key Facts

The White House warned the first round of mass federal layoffs could be announced on Friday.
Those potential layoffs would result from the ongoing government shutdown.
CBS News reported the White House update in an on-camera video posted to its Facebook page.
CBS News reporter Nancy Cordes delivered the on-camera report attributing the update to the White House.
The CBS News Facebook post with the report was dated 2025-10-03T13:20:00+00:00.

OMB is the abbreviation for the Office of Management and Budget, an office within the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for assisting the President in preparing the federal budget and supervising its administration in executive agencies.
Russell Vought served as the Director (chief) of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

Many X users connect the potential mass layoffs to Project 2025, suggesting the shutdown is a strategy to replace federal employees with political loyalists from conservative think tanks, which could reshape government operations long-term.
Discussions on X highlight that these layoffs are intended to be permanent reductions in force, unlike temporary furloughs in past shutdowns, potentially without back pay guarantees, marking a shift in how shutdowns affect workers.
X posts emphasize the broader economic impact, estimating up to 800,000 federal job cuts in 2025 that could raise the unemployment rate by 50 basis points and affect contractors, contributing to overall job market instability.
Users on X point out ongoing federal workforce reductions throughout 2025, with over 200,000 positions already eliminated via buyouts and cuts, framing the shutdown layoffs as part of a larger downsizing effort under the Trump administration.
Perspectives on X view the shutdown as a political win for reducing bureaucracy, putting Democrats in a difficult position where avoiding shutdown means conceding to cuts, while a prolonged one enables permanent workforce slimming.

Based on 2 sources

https://www.facebook.com/CBSNews/ October 03, 2025

New information:

The White House warned the first round of mass layoffs resulting from the government shutdown could be announced on Friday.
CBS News reporter Nancy Cordes attributed the update to the White House (on-camera video report).

Fox News October 02, 2025