With the Trump administration threatening a new government shutdown, uncertainty for federal workers has reached a fever pitch. In fact, President Donald Trump has overseen the greatest mass resignation of all time in U.S. history. Well, over a hundred federal employees are unfortunately getting ready to officially wash their hands of this mess. Opponents of this dramatic development say it is due to the proposed cuts in workforce. To blame has been the administration’s controversial administration of budgets and funding.
We’ll need 250-300,000 less fed jobs cut by Trump admin’s end of year goal. This decision has led to a massive public outcry. For federal agencies, there is no way to avoid mass-scale firings once the government stops operating. Union leaders and labor attorneys have been decrying this ruling. They claim that these moves have broken labor law. They demonstrate shocking callousness toward the lives and livelihoods of everyday federal employees.
In fact, since Trump took office, federal employment has fallen by 97,000 jobs as of August 2023. Still, many are worried that the current political standoff will result in even more lost jobs. Under Trump’s presidency, the most recent government shutdown lasted 35 days from December 2018 to January 2019. This most recent shutdown, by some estimates, cost our economy $11 billion. The approaching shutdown poses to upend the lives of nearly 750,000 federal workers about to be furlonged.
The shutdown’s impact on workers is profound. Thousands of federal employees, especially those who make below $100k a year, have been pushed into deep financial desperation. Reports indicate that they are forced to deplete savings, accumulate credit card debts, or take out loans just to make ends meet.
James Kirwan, a labor attorney working within a government agency, stated, “And then you add in the fear that we might be fired.” He elaborated on the emotional and psychological toll such uncertainty takes on federal workers: “To be kept from our ability to serve the American public, it hurts.”
To reduce the morale hit from possible layoffs, an administration at this point in the process could start a deferred resignation program as the Trump administration did. Accordingly, over 100,000 workers have quit with the same goal in mind. The effects of these mass resignations go beyond the raw count. Justin Chen, another labor attorney, emphasizes that “the workers who do the majority of the frontline work will be furloughed and potentially RIF’ed.” He further stresses that this is where it could threaten the present day’s operations. It could threaten the long-term sustainability of these vital services.
Union leaders have warned and urged unions and anyone who cares about federal programs that are critical to millions of Americans to act now to stop more damage. Everett Kelley, president of one such union, remarked on the immorality of the situation: “Announcing plans to fire potentially tens of thousands of federal employees simply because Congress and the administration are at odds on funding the government past the end of the fiscal year is not only illegal – it’s immoral and unconscionable.”
Critics point out that the Trump administration’s obvious disdain for federal employees makes things worse in what’s already a stressful climate. Colin Smalley stated, “They are trying to extract these big changes on the backs of the public services federal workers provide and our communities run on.”
And yet, in spite of these unprecedented challenges, many of their federal employees do double duty and then some—showing up, living the mission. Kirwan says they don’t want a shutdown either. They say it’s critical not to lose sight of the need to hold the line and protect vital programs from further harm. He noted, “More and more harm has been happening every single month to programs that are critical and that tens of millions of Americans rely upon.”
In this fast changing and increasingly political environment, federal workers prepare ourselves for the consequences – indirect or direct – of a government shutdown. Fear for his future livelihood and job security is now on his mind as he looks for guidance from Washington.