A closed sign is seen outside the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center on Capitol Hill on Oct. 7, 2025, in Washington, D.C.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/TNS
Hundreds of federal employees’ jobs have been cut during the government shutdown — though many of those affected may have no idea — according to documents filed in federal court in San Francisco on Tuesday. The government also acknowledged in the filings that hundreds of layoff notices were sent out by mistake.
The documents were submitted Tuesday as part of a lawsuit filed the day the government shutdown began by four labor unions — including two local chapters of the American Federation of Government Employees that represent Social Security Administration employees and Environmental Protection Agency attorneys in Northern California and Nevada. They argue there is no statutory authority for the president to undertake mass layoffs simply because of a lapse in funding for federal agencies.
When the claim was initially filed, the layoffs existed only as a threat by Trump officials of what might happen if the shutdown continued. But the documents filed Tuesday lay out the chaotic, confusing way those layoffs have been rolled out over the past week.
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On Wednesday, San Francisco-based U.S. District Judge Susan Illston will hear arguments on whether to implement a temporary restraining order blocking the layoffs.
In court declarations filed Tuesday, multiple union officials said that because workers furloughed as part of the government shutdown were told they could not check their work emails or voicemails, they are likely in the dark when it comes to their employment fate.
“Some employees were even told that they could be disciplined for checking their government email while furloughed. As a result, some employees likely received RIF notices in their work emails but have no way of knowing that they received a RIF notice,” said Rachel Gittleman, president of AFGE Local 252, which represents more than 2,700 Department of Education employees. “Further, some employees were instructed to not take their Government Furnished Equipment, home during the government shutdown, so they have no way to access their work emails to see if they have been RIFed.”
Gittleman said many laid off employees have been notified by their supervisors, but in some cases, “not all supervisors have access to information about RIFs.” In other cases, employees don’t have an immediate supervisor, or don’t have access to their personal contact information.
She said that both those who’ve been terminated and those uncertain about whether they’re still employed are facing extreme mental anguish.
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“They feel like they are being thrown away like garbage,” Gittleman wrote.
A union official who represents Centers for Disease Control and Prevention workers noted that laid off employees who have been laid off also cannot access resources to navigate their termination because human resources employees are not working during the shutdown.
Another local union president who represents employees of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development similarly said that because workers can’t access their work emails or phones, they have no way of knowing whether they’ve received a layoff notice. Managers and union representatives don’t have access to the information either, said Ashaki Robinson, regional vice president for AFGE Council 222.
“The lack of communication from the Agency and employees’ inability to access resources regarding the RIF will result in employees suffering significant distress and financial harm during an already exceptionally stressful period,” Robinson wrote.
The filings also laid out what union officials said were errors plaguing the process. Trump administration files acknowledged some of the errors in their own filings.
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Military veterans and long-time HUD employees reported receiving job cut notices despite having retention preferences because of their military service or decades working for the office. Cutting them violates federal law, Robison wrote.
Yolanda Jacobs, the president of AFGE Local 2883, which represents about 2,000 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention employees, wrote that the current rounds of cuts may be based on incorrect employment data. The union would like to request an updated register from the agency and correct errors, but the shutdown makes that impossible, she wrote. The human resources staff that would create the list are not currently working.
“This will likely result in CDC employees being released from service in an order that does not comply with federal law,” Jacobs wrote.
Thomas Nagy Jr., the deputy assistant secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, acknowledged “data discrepancies and processing errors” in a declaration. The department issued 1,760 notices, but Nagy said only 982 employees should have received notification their jobs were being cut.
Stephen Billy, a senior adviser in the Office of Management and Budget, walked back some of the figures he shared in a declaration filed on Friday. He described the shutdown and the funding lapse as “fluid and rapidly evolving” in a Tuesday filing.
He said the numbers of cut jobs are subject to change as “agencies are continually finalizing” plans.
Billy’s updated figures showed the number of cuts to the Department of Commerce nearly doubling to about 600 positions compared with what he reported Friday. He listed the Department of Homeland Security cuts dropping from 176 to 54 positions and Treasury Department cuts going from 1,446 cuts to 1,377.
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In total, the new count of estimated federal job cuts is 4,128.
