The Trump administration signaled on Friday that it may still try to proceed with some layoffs during the government shutdown, days after a federal judge temporarily blocked President Trump and his aides from conducting mass firings targeting federal workers.
The administration hinted at its thinking in a series of court filings, while it escalated its campaign to weaponize the fiscal stalemate. The White House revealed that it had suspended about $11 billion in federal infrastructure funds for cities such as New York and San Francisco, once again aiming to deny previously approved aid for areas run by Democrats.
Together, the actions of Mr. Trump and his deputies underscored the legal risks and political stakes of a governmentwide closure that has reached its 17th day, with no end in sight. Even as the costs of the shutdown start to mount, the president has expressed little desire to broker a resolution, opting to use the stalemate to attack his foes and slash the budget without the approval of Congress.
Before Friday, the administration had already paused or canceled about $28 billion in federal aid that had been primarily reserved for Democratic-led cities and states, while embarking on an effort to lay off about 4,000 workers across eight major federal agencies. Mr. Trump also promised to unfurl a fuller roster of steeper cuts, saying of his plans at one point this week: “It’s thousands of people and it’s billions of dollars.”
The extent of those punitive steps took clearer shape on Friday.
In federal court, officials at many agencies said they would abide by a judge’s order from earlier this week, which temporarily prohibited the government from conducting layoffs during the shutdown.
But some also appeared to leave the door open for future cuts. Officials at agencies including the Treasury Department and the Department of Health and Human Services appeared to suggest that they could target workers in offices and programs that were not represented by unions, which had challenged the legality of the firings.
The Trump administration, for example, previously reported it had sent layoff notices to about 1,400 workers at the Treasury Department. On Friday, an agency official told the court that “none” of the notices sent during the shutdown included “any bargaining unit or member represented” by the unions that had sued.
The admission came two days after Judge Susan Illston of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California sided with labor groups, issuing a stark rebuke of the administration. Those organizations, led by the American Federation of Government Employees, told the judge in an emergency filing late Thursday that they had evidence the administration might have been trying to violate her directive.
The White House did not immediately comment on the matter.
Separately, the president’s budget chief, Russell T. Vought, announced on Friday on social media that the administration would halt another round of federal aid to cities and states during the shutdown. This time, he targeted $11 billion in “lower-priority” projects from the Army Corps of Engineers, which helps to fund major infrastructure improvements and repairs.
Mr. Vought said the money would be reviewed, and in some cases could be canceled. The White House declined to provide a list of affected investments, saying only that the funds involved 12 states, including California, Maryland, New York and Oregon, all of which are led by Democratic governors.
According to the White House, more than $7 billion of the paused funds were reserved for New York, which is also the home of the Democratic leaders in the House and Senate. The president had previously threatened to terminate other federal funding for the state, including long-sought funds to repair a key tunnel damaged by Hurricane Sandy.
Tony Romm is a reporter covering economic policy and the Trump administration for The Times, based in Washington.
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