WASHINGTON, D.C. – Tucked away in the continuing resolution is a provision that could undo one of the President’s priorities: reducing the federal workforce. It would rescind the thousands of layoffs the administration issued during this shutdown.
Many federal employees were laid off last month and in this bill, it would bring them back and prevent any additional reductions in force, known as RIFs, through the end of January, which is when this continuing resolution also comes to an end.
It’s a huge win for federal workers, their unions and some Democrats who criticized the administration for these layoffs. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked about this provision at a press briefing ahead of the House’s vote:
“I think it’s about six-thousand workers total,” said Leavitt. “When you look at that in comparison to the reduction in the federal workforce that this administration has done since January to get rid of the waste, fraud and abuse and to reduce the size of our federal workforce, we’ve done a lot of work on that front; and we will continue to but obviously the President’s priority was to reopen the federal government and get people back to work and that’s what this deal accomplishes.”
Also included in this bill is that any government employee who was furloughed would also be ensured back pay. The administration has said there is no guarantee of backpay for these workers. Even with all of this, it wouldn’t stop the administration from continuing to trim down the federal workforce past January 30th.
