‘If Congress successfully passes a clean CR prior to September 30,’ this will not be necessary, the OMB said.
The White House budget office has sent a memo directing federal agencies to consider preparing “Reduction in Force” (RIF) notices for a portion of their employees in the event of a government shutdown, as the Sept. 30 funding deadline nears without a clear path forward for congressional funding.
The GOP’s continuing resolution (CR), bill H.R. 5371, which the House passed 217-212 last week with support from one Democrat, Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine), seeks to extend current federal funding levels through to Nov. 21.
Republican lawmakers said the bill would allow more time for negotiations on the required full-year spending bills. Senate Democrats have opposed the bill. It requires enough support from Democrats to overcome the 60-vote supermajority threshold to avoid a filibuster.
If Congress does not approve funding for the new financial year by Oct. 1, the federal government will be forced into a shutdown.
“Unfortunately, congressional Democrats are signaling that they intend to break this bipartisan trend and shut down the government in the coming days over a series of insane demands, including $1 trillion in new spending,” the memo, provided by the White House budget office, states. The memo was first reported by Politico.
To prepare the government for an “orderly shutdown” in the event of a lapse in approved funds, the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) said it was directing agencies to consider Reduction in Force (RIF) notices for the portion of their employees supported by discretionary funds, which lapse on Oct. 1, in a manner “consistent with applicable law.”
“Programs that did not benefit from an infusion of mandatory appropriations will bear the brunt of a shutdown,” the memo said.
Social Security, Medicare, veterans’ benefits, military operations, law enforcement, and air traffic control are funded by mandatory appropriations and will not be affected in the case of a shutdown.
The portion of agency employees engaged in programs, projects, or activities that are not consistent with President Donald Trump’s priorities could see a lack of funding in the event of a shutdown if other sources of funding, such as H.R. 1 (Public Law 119-21) are not available, the letter said.
“If Congress successfully passes a clean CR prior to September 30,” this will not be necessary, it states.
“Once fiscal year 2026 appropriations are enacted, agencies should revise their RIFs as needed to retain the minimal number of employees necessary to carry out statutory functions,” it adds.
The RIF notices would also be “in addition to any furlough notices provided due to the lapse in appropriation.”
The OMB asked the agencies to submit drafts of their RIF plans for review.
In the memo, the OMB noted that CRs are how Congress has funded the federal government for the past 10 fiscal years and avoided furloughs of federal employees.
“We remain hopeful that Democrats in Congress will not trigger a shutdown and the steps outlined above will not be necessary. The President supports enactment of a clean CR to ensure no discretionary spending lapse after September 30, 2025, and OMB hopes the Democrats will agree,” the president’s budget office said.
The OMB also said that it held its first planning call for the potential shutdown earlier this week, as required by OMB policy, and that updates to contingency plans to direct agencies on how to handle a government shutdown would be provided as the end of the fiscal year approaches.
The White House’s “agency contingency plans” webpage is currently blank. It remains unclear what federal services could be impacted in the event of a shutdown next week.
By Melanie Sun
