Donald Trump signaled Thursday that he intends to proceed with mass layoffs of US federal workers, escalating pressure on Democrats to support measures aimed at ending the ongoing government shutdown. The Republican president announced he would meet with budget chief Russell Vought “to determine which of the numerous Democrat-led agencies most of which he called a political scam should face cuts, and whether those reductions would be temporary or permanent.” Trump shared the announcement on his Truth Social platform as the government entered its second day of a shutdown, expected to affect 750,000 federal employees, who would be sent home without pay across multiple agencies. Vought informed House Republicans on Wednesday that many workers could face permanent layoffs in the coming days, echoing Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt, who said the firings were “imminent” and could number “in the thousands.” Trump framed these cuts as a strategy to increase pressure on Democrats, stating, “we can take actions during the shutdown that are irreversible, that are damaging to them and cannot be undone by them.” However, Senate Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House counterpart Hakeem Jeffries dismissed the threat of mass firings as political intimidation, asserting that such moves would likely not hold up in court. While two Senate Democrats and an independent aligned with the party broke from their colleagues, the majority continue to oppose a House-passed resolution to fund the government at current levels through November 21. “This is day two of Donald Trump’s shutdown, but it’s day 256 of the chaos his presidency has inflicted on the American people,” Jeffries told reporters at the US Capitol on Thursday. He accused Republicans of shutting down the federal government because “they do not want to provide healthcare for working-class Americans,” while emphasizing that Democrats are willing to negotiate “anytime, anywhere”, including with Trump and Vice President JD Vance, to find a resolution. Weekend votes? The Senate is not voting on Thursday because of the Jewish Yom Kippur holiday, but another vote is expected on Friday and on most days until the standoff is resolved. With Democrats expected to block the Republican reopening plan again, Republicans were reportedly mulling whether to send their senators home after the vote — effectively guaranteeing the shutdown drags into next week. But House Speaker Mike Johnson, whose members have been off all week, told reporters Senate leaders need to stick to an initial plan to work through the weekend in Washington. “And the House is coming back next week, hoping that they will be sending us something to work on, that we can get back to work and do the people’s business,” he told a news conference at the Capitol. For now, Democrats are dug in on their demands for extending health care subsidies before they will agree to a funding deal. Five additional Democratic votes would be needed to reach the 60-vote threshold in the 100-member Senate to green-light the House-passed bill. As each side seeks to point the finger at the other over the shutdown, polling indicates that Democrats and Republicans may currently be sharing the blame. A new poll from the Washington Post found that 47 percent of Americans blame Trump and congressional Republicans for the shutdown, while just 30 percent point the finger at Democrats. But a New York Times/Siena survey showed two-thirds of respondents said Democrats should not shut down the government if Republicans do not agree to their demands. Adding to pressure on Democrats to relent and provide votes to reopen the government, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC Thursday that the shutdown could hurt US economic growth. “This isn’t the way to have a discussion, shutting down the government and lowering the GDP,” he said.
Trump escalates pressure on Democrats amid US government shutdown
