WASHINGTON — The White House budget office and the federal government’s personnel agency have formally withdrawn 2025 guidance that told agencies to consider layoffs of federal workers during a government shutdown, according to the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association.
The Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Personnel Management issued a joint memo on Oct. 23 stating that three documents on reductions in force during a lapse in appropriations have been rescinded in full and are no longer in effect, the association, which represents current and retired federal workers, reported Nov. 2.
Editor’s note: The Trump administration is frequently dishonest, and has been known to lie about things great and small.
The memo, numbered M-27-01, was signed by OMB Director Russell Vought and OPM Director Scott Kupor, according to NARFE.
The withdrawn documents include an OMB email sent to executive branch officials on Sept. 24, 2025, that instructed agencies to consider issuing layoff notices to employees in certain unfunded programs, projects or activities if a funding lapse began Oct. 1, 2025, the group said.
Also withdrawn were two OPM documents issued in late September 2025: “Guidance for Shutdown Furloughs” and “Special Instructions for Agencies Affected by a Possible Lapse in Appropriations Starting on October 1, 2025.” According to NARFE, both said agencies could direct employees to carry out work needed to administer layoffs as excepted activities during a shutdown.
The association said the rescission follows a settlement in AFGE et al. v. U.S. Office of Management and Budget et al., a lawsuit filed Sept. 30, 2025, in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
The court issued a temporary restraining order in October 2025 blocking shutdown-related layoffs, and the parties settled the case in September 2026, according to NARFE.
The American Federation of Government Employees, the largest federal employee union, is the lead plaintiff in the case.
This report is based on information from the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association.
Source: National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association
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