The White House called on Wednesday for federal agencies to prepare for potential mass layoffs in case of a government shutdown next week. This move signals a significant change from previous shutdowns, when employees were primarily placed on unpaid leave.
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The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) sent an internal memo on Wednesday to federal agencies asking them to identify programs, action plans and activities that would lose available funding on October 1st, should the US Congress fail to pass legislation to keep the American government operating.
“Programs that do not benefit from funding inflows will face the blow of operational shutdown,” the OMB stated in its memo, which was released by the White House.
