President Trump Thursday vowed to reap the benefits of the federal government shutdown to completely shutter federal companies that he manufacturers “a political scam” and taunted Democrats for giving him the authority to behave unilaterally by not voting to maintain the federal government funded.
With no finish to the shutdown in sight, Trump mentioned he would meet with funds chief Russ Vought, the architect of the far right-wing Mission 2025 coverage blueprint, to establish which federal companies may very well be placed on the chopping block throughout the shutdown and past.
“(We will) determine which of the many Democrat agencies, most of which are a political scam, (should) be cut, and whether or not those cuts will be temporary or permanent,” Trump wrote on his social media web site. “I can’t believe the … Democrats gave me this unprecedented opportunity.”
Senate Minority Chief Charles Schumer talks to reporters following the weekly Senate Democratic coverage luncheon on the U.S. Capitol on September 30, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Pictures)
He derided federal staff as “dead wood” who may very well be laid off en masse throughout the shutdown.
“Republicans must use this opportunity … to clear out dead wood, waste, and fraud,” he added.
White Home spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt mentioned layoffs of presidency staff would start “imminently” in coming days.
In earlier shutdowns, staff have been furloughed and companies returned to regular operations as soon as a deal was reached and the federal government reopened.
The shutdown does bestow extra powers on the White Home to behave with out congressional approval to slash spending throughout a lapse in funding, a loophole that Vought has already proven he’s keen to take advantage of to completely downsize the federal authorities.
The White Home has already moved to slash tens of millions in anti-terrorism funding to New York and different blue states, though a federal choose briefly put the cuts on maintain.
It additionally lower funding for the Second Avenue subway and the Hudson River rail tunnel in what Democrats say is political retaliation towards the house state of Democratic congressional leaders Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries.
The standoff dangers dragging deeper into October, when federal staff who stay on the job will start lacking paychecks. The nonpartisan Congressional Finances Workplace has estimated roughly 750,000 federal staff can be furloughed on any given day throughout the shutdown, a lack of $400 million day by day in wages that can affect different financial exercise too.
The shutdown was set to increase till a minimum of Friday with no talks anticipated on Thursday as a result of Jewish vacation of Yom Kippur.
A vote to finish the federal government shutdown failed earlier Wednesday, as Democrats within the Senate held agency to the occasion’s calls for to fund well being care subsidies that Trump and Republicans refuse to increase.
At concern are tax credit which have made medical insurance by means of the Inexpensive Care Act extra reasonably priced for tens of millions of individuals for the reason that COVID-19 pandemic. The credit are set to run out on the finish of the yr if Congress doesn’t prolong them, which might greater than double what as much as 22 million Individuals pay for medical insurance premiums, with notices going out quickly for 2026 plans.
