US Vice President J.D. Vance warned of a new wave of layoffs among federal employees as the government shutdown entered its twelfth day amid Congress’s failure to pass a federal funding bill.

In an interview with Fox News, Vance said, “The longer this shutdown lasts, the more layoffs there will be. To be clear, some of these layoffs will be painful. This is a situation we do not enjoy and are not looking forward to, but the Democrats have put us in a very difficult position.”

He added, “The new cuts (in employee numbers) will be painful despite President Donald Trump’s administration working to ensure military paychecks are issued this week and maintaining some essential services for low-income Americans, including food assistance programs.”

Vance pointed out that “hundreds of thousands of federal government employees have been forced to take unpaid leave in recent days,” while the Office of Management and Budget stated in a lawsuit filed Friday that more than four thousand federal employees are at risk of being laid off soon if the shutdown continues.

The government shutdown officially began earlier this month after Congress failed to pass a temporary bill to extend the federal funding ceiling, leading to the closure of some government agencies funded directly by Congress and several state institutions, as well as a halt in salary payments in many civilian sectors.

Former President Donald Trump previously announced that he might use the government shutdown to impose massive cuts in employee numbers and salaries, noting that the budget approval problem stems from the Democrats’ stance.