This article, written by Keir Bickerstaffe, originally appeared in Federal News Network on November 25, 2025.
On November 12, the longest government shutdown in history ended with the enactment of a continuing resolution that will fund the government through Jan. 30, 2026. Importantly, the CR also reversed certain reductions in force (RIFs) and prevents the administration from carrying out certain future RIFs.
So which federal employees are, and are not, affected by the RIF provisions of the CR?
Scope of the CR – What qualifies as a RIF?
The CR defines RIF broadly as “actions taken by an agency pursuant to section 3501 to 3504 of title 5” (the RIF statutes that apply to most civil service employees), section 3595 (the RIF statute for Senior Executive Service employees), or “any similar reduction of positions at any department, agency, or office of the Federal Government,” unless the reduction is authorized by the CR. This last clause is quite broad and could be read to cover any other sort of downsizing that does not fall within those particular statutes. For example, Foreign Service RIFs are not governed by either of the two explicitly referenced statutes, but they are plausibly “similar reduction of positions.”
Effect of the CR on existing RIF actions
The CR requires the reversal of “any [RIF] proposed, noticed, initiated, executed, implemented, or otherwise taken by an Executive Agency between October 1, 2025,” and Nov. 12, 2025, the date the CR was enacted. This covers any RIFs that were first announced and noticed to federal employees after the shutdown began, including those RIFs that targeted so-called “Democrat Agencies.”
However, the broad language of the CR also covers RIFs that were “executed, implemented, or otherwise taken” by an agency during that same timeframe. This would arguably require the reversal of any RIFs that were noticed prior to the shutdown, but that became effective during the shutdown. For instance, many State Department Foreign Service Officers received notice of a RIF prior to October 1 but which became effective on November 10, 2025. These RIFs would appear to be covered by the CR.
Indications of how the administration will interpret this scope will come soon: Agencies were required to send notice to all affected employees by Nov. 17, 2025, that their RIF has been withdrawn, indicating when they are to be reinstated. Affected employees are entitled to be returned to employment status as of Sept. 30, 2025, and to receive all back pay that would be owed to them had the RIF not occurred.
Federal employees affected by RIFs during this timeframe should be on the lookout for this notice and should be prepared to contact agency officials quickly if they do not receive one.
Effect of CR on future RIFs
Going forward, the CR prohibits the use of federal funds to “initiate, carry out, implement, or otherwise notice a reduction in force to reduce the number of [civilian] employees within any department, agency, or office of the Federal Government” from Nov. 12, 2025 until Jan. 30, 2026. This applies to all civilian positions, “whether permanent, temporary, full-time, part-time, or intermittent, and without regard to the source of funding for such positions,” with some exceptions such as voluntary separations and compliance with court orders. In short, this language seemingly prevents the government from taking RIF actions until Jan. 30, 2026.
Which RIFs are not affected by the CR
RIFs not affected by the CR primarily include any RIF that was noticed and became effective before Sept. 30, 2025, as well as any RIF noticed after Jan. 30, 2026. Many of the large-scale RIFs that happened earlier this year remain in place.
The CR also excludes any employee who “voluntarily separates or retires” between Nov. 12, 2025, and Jan. 30, 2026.
Finally, the CR excludes any actions necessary to comply with a court order, or any actions taken on the first day of a shutdown “necessary to implement or maintain an orderly shutdown of government operations.” These exceptions should affect very few, if any, federal employees.
The “X” factor — How will the administration interpret the CR?
While the language of the CR regarding RIFs is relatively straightforward, it remains to be seen how the administration will interpret this language, and to what extent they will honor it. In recent months, the administration has signaled its belief that it has unrestricted power to remove many federal employees from service under Article II of the Constitution, and that this Constitutional power overrides the civil service protections enacted by Congress that have been recognized for nearly 50 years. Will the administration try to assert that the CR language also falls victim to its ever-expanding interpretation of presidential power under the Constitution? Time will tell.