US Plans Thousands of Shutdown Furloughs But Silent on Firings

Federal agencies are preparing for a possible government shutdown with detailed plans that call for temporary furloughs but not permanent mass firings — even after the White House pressed departments to consider reductions in force as part of their contingency planning.

At least eight cabinet departments comprising more than two-thirds of the federal workforce had detailed their shutdown plans as of Monday afternoon. Together they call for more than 400,000 employees to be sent home as nonessential.

But those plans contained only one reference to permanent staffing reduction. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it had 1,563 positions ...