The White House announced Friday that it had begun mass layoffs of federal employees amid the ongoing government shutdown, an unprecedented move aimed at pressuring Democrats to end the funding standoff.

Officials said the “reductions in force” would affect thousands of workers across major departments, including Health and Human Services, Energy, and Homeland Security.

President Trump said the layoffs would “be Democrat-oriented,” framing them as both a political and fiscal maneuver to shrink government.

Democrats and federal worker unions condemned the action as illegal and retaliatory, filing court motions to block the firings, the Wall Street Journal has reported.

The layoffs deepen the crisis as hundreds of thousands of workers remain furloughed or unpaid, and Congress remains gridlocked over competing funding and healthcare proposals.