President Trump said the government shutdown, now in its second day, provided an "unprecedented opportunity" to cut programs and lay off federal workers, ratcheting up the pressure on Democrats.
- "I can't believe the Radical Left Democrats gave me this unprecedented opportunity. They are not stupid people, so maybe this is their way of wanting to, quietly and quickly, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!" he wrote on Truth Social.
Russell Vought, the director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), has already targeted Democratic states with a wave of cuts to federal projects.
- He announced the cancelation of nearly $8 billion in funding for energy programs he said were part of the "the Left's climate agenda."
- He's also withholding $18 billion in funding for two massive infrastructure projects for New York City, the home of both Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY).
On a conference call with congressional Republicans on Wednesday, Mr. Vought, who was an architect of Project 2025, said he would begin to start firing federal workers in the next "day or two."
- The threat to fire, rather than simply furlough workers, marks a departure from how administrations have handled government shutdowns in the past.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that the number of jobs to be cut was "likely going to be in the thousands."
- "That's something that the Office of Management and Budget and the entire team at the White House here, again, is unfortunately having to work on today," she said.
- "These discussions and these conversations, these meetings, would not be happening if the Democrats had voted to keep the government open."
Rep. Jeffries called it a "shame" the administration was trying to "inflict pain" on the American people through their "retribution efforts," but noted it had already been doing that before the lapse in funding.
- "The Trump administration has been firing thousands of federal employees outside of the context of a government shutdown since Jan. 20," he told reporters. "These are hardworking public servants, many of them veterans."
Sen. Schumer said the threats were evidence that Republicans wanted the government to shut down.
- "Americans know it: Trump wants this shutdown and Republicans are following his orders to maximize pain," he said on social media.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) told reporters President Trump has the authority to slash federal workers and cut funding, arguing the shutdown had effectively given Congress's power of the purse to the executive branch.
- "This is the way the system works. This is Chuck Schumer's decision to hand … the keys of the kingdom to the president," he said.
- "Because they have decided to vote to shut the government down, they have now effectively turned off the legislative branch … and they've turned it over to the executive."
The Senate did not hold any votes today due to the Yom Kippur holiday but are expected hold a fourth vote Friday on the House-passed measure, which will require 60 votes to advance.
- Republicans need at least seven Democrats — but more likely eight given Sen. Rand Paul's (R-KY) repeated opposition — to get the bill to the president's desk.
- On the most recent vote Wednesday, three senators who caucus with Democrats voted in favor: Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), John Fetterman (D-PA) and Angus King (I-ME).
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) is hoping to peel off some of the Democratic holdouts in subsequent votes, targeting those who voted for the stopgap measure in March as well as those up for reelection in swing states.
- "If we can just find a few more Democrats to join us, we can end this shutdown and get back to bipartisan appropriations work and the business of the American people," he said.
Watch the remarks from Ms. Leavitt, Speaker Johnson, Rep. Jeffries and Sen. Thune.
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