White House Tells Agencies to Ready Mass-Firing Plans if Shutdown Hits—What It Means for Services and Korean Americans
With a partial U.S. government shutdown days away, the White House ordered federal agencies to prepare reduction-in-force (RIF) plans that could permanently eliminate positions in programs that would lose funding next week, according to new guidance from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The instructions raise the stakes well beyond familiar furloughs and come as negotiations over a stopgap bill remain stalled on Capitol Hill.
In a memo circulated late Wednesday and described in multiple reports Thursday, OMB told departments to identify programs where annual appropriations would lapse and to submit RIF proposals alongside standard shutdown furlough plans. Agencies were also told not to shift funds to soften the blow, a notable departure from the approach used in the 2018-19 shutdown. Democrats blasted the move as "intimidation," but the administration framed it as contingency planning given the deadlock.
What would actually happen if funding runs out? First, hundreds of thousands of civil servants who are not exempt would be furloughed without pay until Congress acts. Essential functions-from air traffic control to law enforcement-continue under special authority. The new element is OMB's push for agencies to be ready to issue RIF notices for employees in programs that are unfunded and "not consistent with the President's priorities." That step is far more disruptive than a furlough because it cuts positions entirely rather than pausing them.
Labor and legal logistics still matter. Under federal rules, RIFs typically require at least 60 days' notice (30 with special approval), and there are procedural guardrails around seniority, performance, and placement rights. Experts also note that firing during a lapse does not allow agencies to spend money they do not have, so any personnel action still has to follow shutdown law and OPM regulations. In short: the memo primes the pump for permanent cuts but does not mean pink slips arrive tomorrow.
Why this matters to readers of Korea Portal: the service impacts hit where everyday life and business intersect. During previous lapses, immigration benefits and some visa processing slowed, federal courts warned of funding limits, and small business lending programs queued up backlogs once money flowed again. A RIF overlay could lengthen recovery times, as agencies would return with smaller staffs. Markets, meanwhile, tend to discount short shutdowns but grow more sensitive when they threaten data releases, contracting cycles, and consumer confidence-all of which matter to Korean exporters and Korean-American businesses with federal touchpoints.
Politically, the order is also a messaging gambit: by publishing a concrete pathway to permanent downsizing, the administration underscores its long-running aim to shrink the civil service while pressuring Senate Democrats who have blocked a House-passed temporary funding bill. Whether that leverage works may hinge less on the memo than on the timeline; with the new fiscal year starting next week, even brief lapses ripple into procurement calendars, lab research, and public-facing services.
Bottom line: the new OMB guidance doesn't guarantee mass layoffs, but it moves them from hypothetical to operational if a shutdown occurs. For households, watch agency contingency pages and be ready for delayed timelines around benefits, filings, and applications. For employers-especially those hiring under work visas or competing for grants-build schedule slack into October. If Congress averts a shutdown, OMB has told agencies to stand down-but also to keep refining RIF plans for later budget cycles, a sign that the push for a leaner federal workforce will outlast this week's drama.
