The U.S. administration announced the start of layoffs
United States - The director of the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Russ Vought, said on October 10 that the federal government has already begun to cut civil servants. His office told AFP that this is a "massive" layoff, but did not provide specific numbers.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued a statement to AFP stating that some of its employees have received layoff notices. The statement said that all affected individuals "were designated as non-essential personnel within their department." The statement considered this layoff measure as welcome, following a period of "bureaucratic bloating" during the presidency of Democratic candidate Joe Biden.
The U.S. Treasury only told AFP that internal layoff notifications had "begun." An insider told AFP that the situation was similar at the Department of Education.
Since the budget shutdown began on October 1, President Donald Trump has been threatening to carry out large-scale layoffs in federal agencies, with the Republican majority and Democratic opposition exchanging accusations.
Due to insufficient funding, the government shutdown caused hundreds of thousands of American federal employees to be furloughed, as their functions were deemed not essential for the daily operations of the country. It is among these people that the U.S. administration threatened to carry out layoffs, claiming that the layoffs would be blamed on the Democratic faction in Congress that refused to compromise on budget issues.
Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries had previously dismissed the threat of layoffs, calling it intimidation. They also stated that mass layoffs would not be accepted in court. In a statement on Friday, Democratic Senator Patty Murray protested, "The government shutdown does not mean that Trump or the OMB have new special powers to create further chaos or permanently weaken basic services for the American people."
She also strongly criticized the majority party for "not being willing to sit down and negotiate" with the opposition, saying, "No one should be intimidated by these frauds."
The Republicans proposed to extend the current budget and maintain the same level of spending, while the Democrats called for extending subsidies for health insurance programs for low-income families.
The Republican Party holds a majority in both houses of Congress, but according to Senate rules, a budget bill needs 60 votes out of 100 to pass. Currently, it is expected that at least 8 opposition legislators will support the Republican bill, but only three have expressed support so far. However, the president's majority leader hopes to persuade more legislators to make concessions over time.
Throughout the government shutdown, more than 2.3 million federal employees and over 1.3 million military personnel will not receive their salaries. Soldiers are expected to be unable to receive their first paycheck on Wednesday. Given the importance of the military in American culture, this deadline may increase public pressure on Congress and the executive branch.
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1845676989016064/
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