Murkowski bashes Trump administration over ‘punitive’ federal layoffs

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) took a swipe at White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) director Russell Vought over the firing of federal workers amid the government shutdown.

“While few details have been shared about Russell Vought’s latest layoffs, there is no question this is poorly timed and yet another example of this administration’s punitive actions toward the federal workforce,” Murkowski posted on the social media site X.

The Trump administration on Friday laid off 4,100 federal workers. This includes between 1,100 and 1,200 employees at the Department of Health and Human Services, 1,446 employees at the Department of the Treasury and around 466 Department of Education employees.

“The termination of federal employees in a shutdown will further hurt hard-working Americans who have dedicated their lives to public service and jeopardize agency missions once we finally re-open the government,” Murkowski wrote Friday, adding that any Alaskans impacted should reach out to her congressional office.

Senators left Washington, D.C., Thursday night and are expected to return on Tuesday due to the federal holiday. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) also said all House votes next week are canceled.

“We will come back, and get back to legislative session, as soon as the Senate Democrats turn the lights back on,” Johnson told reporters in the Capitol on Friday. “That’s the fact. That’s where we are.”

As the shutdown carries on, military servicemembers are inching closer to Oct. 15, when they are unlikely to receive their next pay check. Federal employees received a partial paycheck on Friday that covered their work done Sept. 21-30.

Those checks should cover two whole weeks of work through Oct. 4. Due to the shutdown beginning Oct. 1, no money for October work days was allocated.