Federal workers from companies throughout the US government say they’re “terrified,” “disoriented” and full of nervousness as they brace for a potential shutdown that the Trump White House has threatened will pave the best way for new rounds of fast-tracked mass layoffs.
There is widespread confusion and worry amongst federal workers because the Tuesday evening deadline approaches for Congress to approve a spending bundle, in accordance with greater than a dozen workers from 11 federal companies who spoke to NCS. Many are still waiting to search out out who might be required to work via a shutdown — and who might be furloughed.
Complicating issues, the White House funds workplace has directed federal companies to “use this opportunity” to arrange sweeping new layoffs, based mostly on which applications lose funding within the occasion of a shutdown and which don’t align with President Donald Trump’s priorities, in accordance with a memo obtained by NCS.
“I’m absolutely terrified about going through the same thing all over again,” stated one federal employee who was fired and rehired this yr as a part of the Department of Government Efficiency’s cuts. “This kind of treatment is inhumane. I don’t even know how to prepare for the complete unknown.”
The federal worker, like many others who spoke to NCS, insisted on talking anonymously as a result of they feared retribution by the Trump administration.
“My employer doesn’t have my back,” the worker stated.
In response to NCS’s inquiries for this story, a senior Trump administration official stated: “It’s unfortunate that Democrats have decided to instigate a government shutdown by opposing a clean government funding extension. Their unreasonable and insane demands, like healthcare for illegal aliens and funding for NPR, will be directly responsible for this outcome.”
Trump and congressional Democrats are locked in a stalemate over the GOP’s present government funding plan, and few contained in the Capitol or White House expect a breakthrough by the Tuesday evening deadline. Democrats have stated a deal should embody an extension of the improved Obamacare subsidies, amongst different priorities — which have to this point been a non-starter for Republicans, at the very least on a short-term funding extension.
The looming shutdown is the most recent twist in an already tumultuous yr for federal workers.
Trump and the Elon Musk-backed DOGE team initiated an unprecedented stage of mass firings throughout the US government. Some cuts had been so haphazard that companies scrambled to rehire workers. Other layoffs had been deemed unlawful by federal judges, who ordered mass reinstatements, solely for appellate judges to later reverse these rulings.
One Department of Interior worker, who additionally requested anonymity, stated that “as a middle-class American and as a mother,” she feels “disregarded and abandoned” due to the most recent threats, as she preps for potential disruptions along with her paycheck.
“I’ll go home today and take stock of my budget and pantry and make sure my family can ride out the next month or more, of whatever is coming,” the worker instructed NCS. “And then tomorrow, I’ll get up and come to work and do my best for America, until they tell me I can’t come to work anymore.”
The Internal Revenue Service has already seen a 25% discount in workers this yr, after mass layoffs and a wave of workers accepting buyout offers.
Philadelphia-based IRS worker Alex Berman, an area chief for the National Treasury Employees Union, stated there’s a “constant state of fearful uncertainty,” and that this shutdown menace feels totally different than past years.
“The added complication is that this might be used as a pretext to tell people that they don’t have a job anymore – and that isn’t how the system is supposed to work,” Berman stated. “Federal employees are largely middle class. We’re wondering if our families will have a Christmas this year.”
Even if the White House’s menace of latest layoffs is simply “gamesmanship to try to bring the parties to the negotiating table,” Berman stated, it nonetheless is sending shudders via the ranks of federal workers.
Lorie McCann, the president of NTEU’s Chicago chapter, who represents IRS workers, stated she is afraid {that a} shutdown may harm peculiar Americans by slowing taxpayer companies.
A shutdown may “cause a backlog” for IRS workers processing tax returns for the greater than 1.3 million Americans who requested extensions this yr, McCann stated. The deadline to file these tax returns is October 15.
McCann stated it might additionally “be harder to implement the tax law changes,” from Trump’s signature legislative accomplishment – the regulation he calls the “big beautiful bill,” which modified dozens of provisions within the tax code.
“Federal employees want to do their jobs, but it’s hard to do your job when you’re scared,” McCann stated. “We are your neighbors, your friends, or family members. We’re not all in DC. We want to do the jobs we were hired to do.”
One air site visitors controller in Michigan instructed NCS he doesn’t want the extra stress of doubtless lacking a paycheck on prime of his already high-pressure job. The Federal Aviation Administration emphasizes that there ought to be zero distractions at work, however pay is the largest distraction proper now, with a shutdown looming, the worker stated.
During the latest government shutdown, which began in December 2018 and lasted for a historic 35 days, the worker needed to borrow cash from his mother and father to assist help his two children. He additionally acquired support from his local people, which donated meals to federal staffers.
Now, the FAA worker’s household has grown bigger. So he has already began chopping out pointless spending — corresponding to some snacks — over the summer time to construct up his financial savings in case of a shutdown within the fall.
“This puts a huge strain on me and my family,” he stated. “With a career that already is one of the most stressful jobs, lets just add a huge amount of more stress on top of that.”
That 2018-2019 shutdown ended solely after staffing points brought about airspace to temporarily close at among the East Coast’s busiest airports — and there are nonetheless workforce shortages on the FAA.
Dave Demas, correctional officer at US Penitentiary Canaan, a high-security federal jail in northeastern Pennsylvania, is contemplating taking out a private mortgage to cowl his automobile funds and hire relying on how lengthy the shutdown lasts.
He and his spouse are attempting to not let a potential government shutdown have an effect on their two daughters’ afterschool actions, which embody gymnastics, dance lessons and piano.
“We’re going to do our best to keep their lives running the same, but mine might change drastically,” stated Demas, who’s president of the American Federation of Government Employees chapter that represents Bureau of Prisons workers on the facility.
The looming shutdown, coupled with the potential for a brand new spherical of layoffs, has reawakened the nervousness in a single General Services Administration employee who says he had lastly began regaining some confidence that his job was safe after all of the tumult this yr.
The worker, who additionally served for greater than 20 years within the navy, thought he would spend the remainder of his profession in federal service however is now wanting for jobs within the non-public sector that aren’t as demanding and unsure.
“It’s very challenging to stay motivated and on this career path,” stated the worker, who requested to not be recognized for worry of reprisal. “It’s just too much mentally.”
The GSA, which oversees federal real estate and procurement, held an “all-hands” assembly on Thursday afternoon a couple of subject unrelated to the looming shutdown, a second GSA worker instructed NCS. Despite being flooded with questions concerning the shutdown, the senior GSA officers working the session didn’t tackle the state of affairs, the GSA worker stated.
One submitted query learn, “How does being publicly threatened with a mass and permanent furlough tell me I’m ‘deeply valued’ in this organization?” in accordance with supplies obtained by NCS. Another requested, “are our jobs safe or are we getting RIF-ed anyway?” referring to proposed reductions-in-force.
A GSA spokesperson didn’t reply to NCS’s request for remark.
The second GSA worker instructed NCS the state of affairs has been “incredibly disorienting” and “all the confusion and noise make it almost impossible to think clearly.”
GSA is funded by the Federal Buildings Fund. During previous government shutdowns, workers have been anticipated to work till the company runs out of reserve cash, which usually has lasted between just a few days and two weeks.
At the Department of Education — which the Trump administration is within the strategy of attempting to close down altogether — there may be now much more uncertainty.
“We are all being kept on our toes,” one worker instructed NCS, including that their colleagues are “at a loss to understand and predict” what comes subsequent.
This worker stated that as of Thursday afternoon, that they had not acquired any info from company management acknowledging the potential shutdown.
Another supply stated there equally hasn’t been any agency-wide steering circulated throughout the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, which noticed mass DOGE firings adopted by hundreds of re-hirings.
“We are hearing very little from leadership,” the NOAA supply stated. And concerning potential layoffs, “we are keeping an anxious ear to the ground.”
Hurricane season — considered one of NOAA’s busiest occasions of the yr — is properly underway, with Hurricane Humberto churning within the Atlantia Ocean and another potential storm brewing that’s anticipated to impression the US subsequent week.
There have been extra proactive communications at some medical amenities run by the Department of Veterans Affairs, in accordance with a well being care supplier at a VA hospital who spoke to NCS on the situation of anonymity.
The VA supply stated they acquired a message on Wednesday concerning the potential shutdown, saying that they might proceed to ship medical care to veterans and that they may proceed to receives a commission. The message didn’t say something concerning the menace from the White House of shutdown-fueled layoffs.
Bonita Williams, a contractor who cleans workplaces on the State Department headquarters in Washington, DC, stated she didn’t lose her job throughout earlier government shutdowns, but it surely’s unclear what’s going to occur this time.
“Last time, it was a struggle for me,” Williams stated. “My children work for the federal government, so if they are furloughed, I’m going to have to give my kids money. Last time around, some of my kids went to food banks.”
Unlike full-time federal workers who get backpay after Congress ends a shutdown by passing a spending invoice, most contractors don’t get backpay.
“I can’t prepare,” Williams stated. “I’m living paycheck to paycheck.”