Federal Worker Layoffs Climb Toward 250,000 as Deadline Looms

The Trump administration’s push to drastically shrink the federal government shifts to a new gear Thursday, when agencies face a deadline to submit plans for large-scale layoffs and budget cuts.

With them, the list of government job cuts that for weeks had been measured in the tens of thousands — and included retirements, deferred resignations, and selective firings — is expected to reach into the hundreds of thousands.

The prospective plans also will bring more clearly into focus how the downsizing could impact government services and reshape everything from the broader US economy to local communities.

Such job cuts inevitably ...