More than 4,100 workers have received RIF notices, according to a legal declaration<\/a> by Stephen Billy, a senior advisor at the Office of Management and Budget.<\/p>\n Affected departments include the Department of Commerce, Department of Education, Department of Energy, Environmental Protection Agency, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Department of Homeland Security and Department of the Treasury.<\/p>\n Hundreds more notices were also sent out by mistake last week.<\/p>\n The Department of Health and Human Services sent out more than 1,700 RIF notices on Oct. 10, but actually meant to send out less than 1,000, according to Thomas Nagy, a human resources official within the Department of Health and Human Services.<\/p>\n \u201cEmployees have been working since Oct. 10, 2025, to rescind the notices that had been issued in error,\u201d Nagy said in a declaration<\/a> to the court.<\/p>\n Department of Justice lawyers argued that the judge did not have jurisdiction in this case and that workers were not entitled to relief through the courts because the layoffs had a 60-day notice period \u2014 so the government\u2019s actions would not technically harm workers until after that period had lapsed.<\/p>\n Danielle Leonard, an attorney for the unions, pushed back on the assertion that employees aren\u2019t suffering any harm.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re making people come in, work without pay, to fire their fellow employees, and then those employees are being fired in this context. It is traumatic, it is distressing,\u201d said Leonard, alluding to reports<\/a> that human resources workers at the Centers for Disease Control were called back into work to process layoffs, including members of their own team.<\/p>\n The defense declined to address the lawsuit\u2019s core claim that the layoffs are illegal.<\/p>\n \u201cI just want to be clear, you\u2019re not making any statement concerning the government\u2019s position on the merits of this, on whether these RIFs are legal or not?\u201d Illston asked during the hearing.<\/p>\n \u201cNot today, your honor,\u201d Assistant United States Attorney Elizabeth Hedges said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.kqed.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/09\/GettyImages-2236329361-scaled-e1760568167148.jpg\")