Rep. Neguse and Litigation Task Force Leaders Demand Russell Vought End Unlawful Purge of Federal Workforce

Lafayette, CO — Today, Colorado Congressman Joe Neguse, Chair of the Litigation Task Force, led fellow Democratic leaders in the House in sending a letter to Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought demanding that he immediately cease using the Republican shutdown as a pretext to fire thousands more federal employees through flagrantly illegal “reductions in force” (RIFs). This comes after a Monday court filing revealed the Trump administration’s now-halted plan to illegally terminate hundreds of Coloradans working at public land agencies throughout the state. 

“The attempt to use a government shutdown to unlawfully terminate hard-working federal employees across Colorado is illegal, pure and simple. Donald Trump’s unlawful and politically motivated attacks, unleashing his so-called ‘Grim Reaper’ Russell Vought on our civil servants, will inflict direct harm on both the state’s robust federal workforce and all Coloradans who rely on the critical services these agencies provide. It is shameful. These acts of retribution are intended to stoke fear, and as Chair of the Litigation Task Force I intend to work in lockstep with my fellow Democratic colleagues to exercise every legal and legislative tool to reverse these decisions — starting by demanding accountability from Mr. Vought himself,” said Congressman Joe Neguse.

As OMB Director, Vought has issued directives to federal agencies instructing them to use the temporary shutdown to justify permanent firings. His September 24, 2025, memorandum explicitly directed agencies to use the shutdown as an “opportunity” to eliminate programs “not consistent with the President’s priorities.”

In the letter, Congressman Neguse, joined by Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin, Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro, and Oversight Committee Ranking Member Robert Garcia, explained that these directives are plainly illegal. A government shutdown does not give Vought or anyone else the power to dismantle entire federal programs or eliminate the legal requirements that Congress has imposed on agencies. In fact, administering RIFs during a shutdown itself violates the Antideficiency Act, which allows only specific, narrow categories of work to continue during a shutdown. Planning and implementing RIFs fits none of those categories.

Recognizing this blatant illegality, a court has already issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) blocking Vought from moving forward with his RIFs.

In the first eight months of this administration, Vought has fired or pushed out more than 200,000 career civil servants in a haphazard and chaotic manner that has endangered the health, safety, and welfare of the American people. Even President Trump has referred to Vought as his “Grim Reaper.” 

Terminations in Colorado include the unlawful firings of dedicated public servants at the National Park Service (NPS), U.S. Forest Service (USFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), as well as federal employees in the state working on disaster preparedness, disease outbreaks, substance abuse and mental health matters, and more.

Vought has expressed his disdain for such federal workers and his plans to dismantle the nonpartisan civil service before and during his leadership of OMB. Before joining the Trump administration, he declared that he wanted federal employees “to be traumatically affected.”  He emphasized that his goal was to inflict maximum pain on federal workers and their families: “When they wake up in the morning, we want them to not want to go to work because they are increasingly viewed as the villains…We want to put them in trauma.”

Read their full letter HERE.