Layoffs of federal workers have begun amid the ongoing U.S. government shutdown, Trump administration budget chief Russell Vought said in a social media post on Friday.

“The RIFs have begun,” Vought wrote on X, using the acronym for “Reductions in Force.”

The Office of Management and Budget, which Vought leads, confirmed that “RIFs have begun and are substantial.”

The announcement comes four days after National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett warned in a CNBC interview that President Donald Trump could “start taking sharp measures” if the shutdown continued due to the lack of a stop-gap funding deal approved by Congress.

Hassett said that “any government worker who loses their job” will have Democrats to blame for their layoff.

While many federal workers have been furloughed because of the shutdown, it is not the normal practice in shutdowns to permanently lay off government employees.

Since the shutdown began last week, Vought has announced in tweets decisions by the Trump administration to freeze and cut billions of dollars in federal funding for projects in states and cities controlled by Democratic elected officials.

The Trump administration and Republicans in Congress have sought to blame Democrats for the government shutdown and any negative fallout from it.

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