Alaska federal workers brace for potential layoffs

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Federal workers across Alaska are bracing for potential layoffs on top of missing paychecks, as union officials warn that up to 200,000 federal employees nationwide could lose their jobs permanently during the ongoing government shutdown.

Based on union estimates and federal employment data, Alaska could see about 799 federal workers laid off if the cuts are distributed proportionally across states.

“There are a lot of people afraid,” David Owens, American Federation of Government Employees national representative, told Alaska’s News Source Thursday, describing President Donald Trump’s layoff threat at the time.

“They’re very worried. They feel like they’re being pawns, and they’re tired,” Ownes.

The threat comes after about 280,000 positions from the federal workforce were cut by DOGE, according to reporting in July by CNBC.

Now, Owens said the government could be looking into cutting 150,000 to 200,000 more positions.

A spokesperson for the Office of Management and Budget told the Associated Press the reduction would be “substantial,” but did not offer more immediate details, including how many federal employees would be laid off.

According to Office of Personnel Management data, Alaska has 11,658 federal employees as of September 2024. If the 200,000 layoffs nationally that Owens cited is accurate, and federal employment data shows the country currently employs approximately 2.2 million civilian federal workers, about 9.1% of federal employees would be laid off.

If that percentage was applied equally in each state, about 1,052 federal employees in Alaska may be laid off.

Court filings from the AFGE currently highlight 4,000 employees will be laid off, but also states, “Other Defendant agencies (in addition to some of those agencies identified above) are actively considering whether to conduct additional RIFs related to the ongoing lapse in appropriations”

Several impacted agencies reportedly include departments of the Interior, Homeland Security, Treasury, Education, Energy, Housing and Urban Development and Health and Human Services, as well as the Environmental Protection Agency, according to NBC reporting citing an anonymous official.

The president said Friday he would target firings towards those aligned with the Democratic Party.

“It’ll be a lot of people,” CNN reports he said. “I must tell you, a lot of them happen to be Democrat oriented.”

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum told Alaska’s News Source last week he didn’t expect his department to be hit hard.

“I don’t expect it to necessarily, but if that’s what it comes to, … we do have an effort underway still to try and find more efficiency in how we deliver services,” Burgum said, referencing the DOGE initiative.

For Alaska federal workers, the uncertainty is taking a personal toll, Owens said.

“I’m really worried about some of them because they live paycheck to paycheck,“ Owens said. ”We have some employees … that don’t make much money, and it really causes an impact on them.”

CBS Justice Correspondent Scott MacFarlane told Alaska’s News Source Friday it could be days, if not weeks, until there’s a full understanding of what type of layoffs are being executed.

“There’s still some sense that this may be more threat than reality,” he said. “Nevertheless, the administration continues to leverage this, saying they’re going to proceed with layoffs eventually or more layoffs eventually unless the government reopens, which begs the question, where are the negotiations in the effort to reopen the government?”

MacFarlane said any interruption in pay could be “cataclysmic to the family budget and life-changing,” something Owens reiterated was a phenomenon not uncommon in Alaska.

Prior to the shutdown, the Office of Management and Budget released a memo saying agencies should consider a RIF for programs whose funding would lapse during the shutdown and weren’t “consistent with the president’s priorities,” the Associated Press reported.

MacFarlane called the president’s calculus behind the move “unclear.”

“There may be a political advantage to wielding layoffs or at least threatening them,” he said. “Perhaps it’s leverage to end a government shutdown that the Republicans believe they can’t end without the Democrats’ help.

“The other component, though, is when you lay off federal workers, especially in our area, you do impact the services people receive. It is more difficult to get what you pay your tax dollars for when there are fewer federal workers to complete it.”

The White House has not released a statement on the shutdown as of publication, nor has the Office of Management and Budget. The layoffs also come the same day federal employees are set to receive their last paycheck, valid for the hours they worked prior to the shutdown, according to the U.S. General Services Administration.

Alaska’s News Source reached out to the entire congressional delegation and the governor’s office for comment on the push from the White House to lay off federal employees.

Alaska’s congressional delegation is already pushing back on the layoff threat. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, criticized the administration’s move on social media Friday.

“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,” she said. “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.”

A spokesperson for Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, deferred comment to a statement saying he is working with the Trump administration to “lessen the impacts to Alaskans that result from the shutdown,” blaming the shutdown on Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York.

Ten days later, little has changed

Republicans say Democrats have refused to pass what they call a “clean continuing resolution” in the Senate, a bill that maintains current government spending levels without policy changes or additions.

If the resolution receives 60 votes, it will end the government shutdown. With almost all Republicans voting for it (Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., cast the lone no vote), Democrats would need to provide the remaining votes.

Democratic leaders dispute that characterization, arguing the Republican bill isn’t truly “clean” because it ignores Democratic demands to restore nearly $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts and extend enhanced Affordable Care Act tax credits set to expire Dec. 31. Democrats say the credits would preserve health insurance for 3.8 million people.

If the Senate doesn’t pass the current resolution, Congress would need to introduce and pass a new resolution through both chambers. The president would then need to sign the proposal for it to become law.

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