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Reductions in Force (RIF)

Fired US State Department workers push their belongings in a shopping cart as they leave the building in Washington, DC, on July 11, 2025. The US State Department began laying off more than 1,300 employees as part of President Donald Trump’s campaign to massively downsize the federal government workforce. A State Department official said 1,107 members of the civil service and 246 Foreign Service employees were being informed that they were being fired. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

Senate-approved resolution to open the government appears to halt diplomat RIFs

Despite being announced before the shutdown, the bill’s prohibition on reduction-in-force activity encompasses the separation date for foreign service officers.
WASHINGTON, DC – APRIL 14: About 75 demostrators rally during a press conference outside the Department of Labor headquarters on April 14, 2025 in Washington, DC. Current and former Department of Labor workers and their supporters rallied in protest of the workforce cuts in the department’s Women’s Bureau, Employment and Training Administration, Office of Disability Employment Policy, Mine Safety and Health Administration, Employee Benefits Security Administration, and Bureau of International Labor Affairs by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Judge halts federal reductions-in-force amid shutdown

A federal judge in California said the RIFs appear to be “politically motivated” and temporarily halted efforts to carry them out.
ATLANTA, GEORGIA – AUGUST 06: A general view of the Center for Disease Control headquarters is seen in Atlanta, Georgia, United States on August 06, 2022. (Photo by Nathan Posner/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

CDC sent RIF notices, then pulled some back. The result is chaos, advocates and workers say

Roughly half of the reduction-in-force notices sent to CDC staff last week were rolled back, workers and advocates said. The error adds to existing administrative disorder.
Russell Vought testifies before a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing on his second nomination to be OMB director, in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 15, 2025. (Photo by JEMAL COUNTESS/AFP via Getty Images)

White House directs agencies to consider staff reductions in case of shutdown

In a message to agency leaders, the Office of Management and Budget said a funding lapse for programs means that they no longer have to be carried…
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Scott Kupor during a Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs regarding his nomination to be Director of the Office of Personnel Management on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on Thursday April 3, 2025. (Photo by Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

OPM’s Scott Kupor: DOGE was a ‘catalyst’ for efficiency. Operationalizing it comes next.

In a Q&A with FedScoop, Kupor said DOGE doesn't currently have a presence at the agency. He also plans to review the usefulness of the “five bullets.”
Former federal workers protest against Trump administration policies in front of the Hubert Humphrey Health and Human Services building in Washington D.C. on Feb. 19, 2025. (Photo by DOMINIC GWINN/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

Supreme Court allows federal workforce reductions to move forward

Multiple federal agencies had RIF plans on hold as a result of the lower court’s order.
Protesters hold signs in solidarity with the American Federation of Government Employees of District 14 at a rally in support of federal workers at the Office of Personnel Management in Washington, DC, March 4, 2025. Since his inauguration, US President Donald Trump has moved to unilaterally dismantle federal agencies and fired thousands of government workers. (Photo by ALEX WROBLEWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

District judge further enjoins Trump’s reductions in force at federal agencies

U.S. Judge Susan Illston’s preliminary injunction prevents the administration from carrying out reorganizations and staff reductions at multiple agencies.
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