Chuck Schumer Claims Trump, Vought Are Using 'Americans As Pawns' After White House Budget Chief Pressures Democrats To End Shutdown

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Monday accused President Donald Trump and White House budget chief Russell Vought of using Americans as "pawns" in a government shutdown that has now triggered thousands of federal layoffs.

Schumer Slams Firings, Cites Vought's ‘RIFs' Post

"Donald Trump and Russell Vought are using Americans as pawns in their shutdown," Schumer wrote on X, sharing Vought's post announcing firings.

Vought, the Office of Management and Budget director, said Friday the administration had begun reductions-in-force, or RIFs. "The RIFs have begun," Vought stated on X, signaling a break with past shutdowns, when furloughs rather than permanent terminations were typical.

Layoff Totals Emerge Across Multiple Federal Agencies

By the weekend, the administration told a court that roughly 4,200 workers across multiple agencies had received RIF notices. Department-level figures included between 1,100 and 1,200 at Health and Human Services, 1,446 at Treasury, and about 466 at Education, according to agency and administration tallies.

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The firings drew public pushback from Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) on Saturday, who called them "poorly timed" and "another example of this administration's punitive actions toward the federal workforce."

GOP Back Vought As Pressure Campaign Intensifies Shutdown

As per a Fox News report, other Republicans largely backed Vought's pressure campaign. Senate GOP leaders have taken a hands-off approach, arguing his tactics could move Democrats toward reopening the government, even as talks remain stalled over expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies.

Ahead of the shutdown, OMB told agencies to prepare RIF plans targeting programs that would lose funding on Oct. 1 and lacked alternative sources. The White House last week also advanced a contested legal view that furloughed employees are not automatically guaranteed back pay, contradicting earlier assumptions and prompting alarm among unions and lawmakers.

Separately, the administration has frozen or canceled nearly $30 billion in projects concentrated in Democratic-led areas, including about $18 billion for New York transit, roughly $2.1 billion for Chicago projects and about $7.6–$8 billion in energy programs, intensifying partisan tensions as the shutdown enters a third week.

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