In September 2025, the Trump-Vance administration prepared to weaponize a potential federal government shutdown by threatening mass firings of tens of thousands of federal employees. For decades, shutdowns have followed a consistent framework:

• Employees are either furloughed without pay but later guaranteed back pay, or
• They are directed to continue essential work without pay until funding is restored.

But a September 2025 memorandum from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), led by Director Russ Vought, broke this long-standing practice and directed agencies to issue Reduction-in-Force (RIF) notices and prepare to fire career civil servants during the shutdown, stripping them of back pay rights and targeting positions essential to public safety and national security.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) also unlawfully instructed agencies to keep employees working during the shutdown for the purpose of implementing these firings — a move that violates the Anti-Deficiency Act and the laws governing furloughs and shutdown operations.

On September 30, 2025, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California to block these firings. They are represented by Democracy Forward, Altshuler Berzon LLP, and the Democracy Defenders Fund.

The plaintiffs represent over 2 million public employees, including federal workers, veterans, and public service professionals across essential agencies such as transportation, health, food safety, and law enforcement.

The lawsuit argues that the administration’s actions are a deliberate attack on public servants intended to pressure Congress and advance the Project 2025 agenda to dismantle the federal government.

The lawsuit asks the court to:

• Declare OMB’s and OPM’s actions unlawful and beyond their statutory authority;
• Invalidate all RIF-related instructions issued during the shutdown;
• Prohibit agencies from conducting mass terminations under the guise of shutdown operations; and
• Protect federal employees’ rights to back pay, due process, and workplace protections under federal law.

On October 4, 2025, the unions also filed an emergency motion for a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) to block the administration’s threatened firings while the case proceeds, which was granted by the court on October 15, 2025.

On October 21, the unions expanded their lawsuit to cover additional federal workers and asked the court to issue a preliminary injunction extending its order barring the administration from firing any workers as the litigation proceeds.

The case is American Federation of Government Employees et al. v. Office of Management and Budget et al.