Trump appoints longtime aide Dan Scavino to head White House personnel office responsible for selecting almost all government positions.
Vance warns deeper cuts to federal workforce coming as shutdown enters 12th day, threatening painful reductions beyond the over 4,000 employees set to be fired.
Education Department fires nearly all Office of Special Education staff during shutdown, eliminating federal IDEA oversight despite Secretary McMahon calling disabled students a “top priority.”
HHS rehires CDC staff mistakenly fired through “coding error” in reduction-in-force, including disease outbreak investigators and measles response team.
Trump directs Pentagon to shift $8 billion from military research accounts to pay troops during shutdown, despite Democratic warnings of potential Antideficiency Act violations.
IRS warns shutdown-exempt employees they will be furloughed if they take more than eight hours of leave per pay period, reversing promises that they were safe from furloughs.
Trump administration issues layoff notices to 4,200 federal employees at seven agencies during shutdown, leveraging funding lapse for workforce cuts unprecedented in shutdown history.
DHS orders hundreds of CISA cybersecurity and FEMA staff to immigration enforcement with one week to accept or face termination, slowing response to active cyber threats including China-linked Cisco vulnerability.
IRS retracts back pay guarantee for furloughed employees and automatically deletes original guidance from inboxes, contradicting 2019 law Trump signed ending previous shutdown.
EPA furloughs most of 15,000 employees after nine-day delay using carryover funds, with only 11% continuing work as toxic pollution inspections and oversight halt nationwide.
