Vice President JD Vance on Oct. 12 said there will be deeper cuts to the federal workforce the longer the government shutdown goes on, adding to the uncertainty facing hundreds of thousands who are already furloughed without pay amid a stalemate in Congress.

Vance told Fox News on Sunday morning that as the federal shutdown entered its 12th day, some of the new cuts will be “painful,” as the administration confirmed that around 4,100 workers received layoff notices on Oct. 10.

“The longer this goes on, the deeper the cuts are going to be,” Vance told “Sunday Morning Futures.” “To be clear, some of these cuts are going to be painful. This is not a situation that we relish. This is not something that we’re looking forward to.”

The Trump administration confirmed that it laid off the workers in Department of Justice-filed court papers in response to a lawsuit.

In the court papers, the administration’s lawyers confirmed that the federal employees had received reduction-in-force notices “related to the lapse in appropriations” as of Oct. 10, building on a brief social media statement that was released by Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought on social media hours earlier.

The firings include 176 employees in the Department of Homeland Security, 187 employees in the Department of Energy, 315 employees in the Department of Commerce, 442 employees in the Department of Housing and Urban Development, 466 employees in the Department of Education, between 1,100 and 1,200 employees in the Department of Health and Human Services, and 1,446 workers in the Department of the Treasury, the government said.

“Other Defendant agencies (in addition to some of those agencies identified above) are actively considering whether to conduct additional [reductions in force] related to the ongoing lapse in appropriations,” the Justice Department added in the filing.

The filing came in response to a lawsuit filed by the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) earlier this month, urging a judge to block any firings of federal workers amid the shutdown.

The AFGE, the largest government employee union in the United States, and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees filed a motion for a temporary restraining order on Oct. 4 to block the Trump administration from initiating mass firings.

“Mass illegal firings will not only harm federal workers and their families, but will devastate vital services that the American people depend on,” AFGE National President Everett Kelley said in a statement after the lawsuit was filed. “AFGE will continue to stand up for federal workers and against the Trump administration’s unlawful plans to fire them.”

Since the shutdown began on Oct. 1, President Donald Trump and Vought have signaled they would carry out mass layoffs. In the months prior to the ongoing shutdown, the administration has also launched efforts to fire some federal employees or have them quit.

The shutdown began on Oct. 1 after Democrats rejected a short-term funding fix and demanded that the bill include an extension of federal subsidies for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act.

Trump and Republican leaders have said they are open to separate negotiations on the health subsidies, not as a condition for reopening the government.

The White House and Office of Management and Budget did not respond to an Epoch Times request for comment as of publication time.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.