The White House is telling agencies to consider mass layoffs for positions that aren’t protected from a partial government shutdown, which is set to begin Oct. 1 if the two parties can’t come to a swift agreement on a stopgap funding patch.
Is that legal? The answer appears to be yes, though it’s complicated.
A federal funding lapse in fact looks to be one of the stipulated reasons why “reductions-in-force” are allowed, stemming from statutory authorities going back to World War II-era veterans preferences and a 1966 law codifying organization of the federal government.
