Trump eyes dismissed thousands of federal workers about the closure

“It will probably be in thousands of people,” the journalists said on Thursday, the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, saying that “the whole White House team” worked to identify possible cuts.

“We are going to examine the agencies that do not align with the values ​​of the administration, that we think we are a waste of the dollar of taxpayers,” she added.

Leavitt’s comments came after Trump on social networks earlier Thursday said he was planning to meet Vought to “determine which of the many Democratic agencies, most of which are a political scam, he recommends being cut and whether these cuts will be temporary or permanent”.

The Republicans sought to use the threat of permanent cuts to the federal bureaucracy to encourage democrats to vote to reopen the government, and the White House said that shots could occur imminently. But some budget experts argued that spending money to make permanent layoffs when closing is illegal.

Chamber president Mike Johnson defended Trump’s decision, saying that the president had the power to draw workers and reduce expenses when closing. He was blamed for the forfeiture of credits on Democrats.

“If they keep the government closed, it will become more and more painful,” said Johnson to journalists. The White House, he added, “will turn to the priorities of the administration and ensure that they are funded”.

Vought began to retain spending on New York public transport projects and clean energy programs in the states that voted for Democrat Kamala Harris in 2024.

We do not yet know what the scale of federal workforce reduction could be, but senator Shelley Moore Capito, a Virginia-Western Republican, predicted that there could be important cuts.

“Do I think Russ Vought wants to reduce the government in a dramatic way? Absolutely. It is quite clear about it,” Capito told CNBC on Thursday.

The movements of the White House to withdraw funding and reject federal workers aim to put pressure on democrats to vote to reopen the government. Hard ball tactics go far beyond what is common in a closure, where many federal workers are generally on leave, then receive a salary back once the government was funded.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that around 750,000 employees will be on leave when closing $ 400 million per day in loss of compensation.

Political posture

The secretary of the Treasury, Scott Bessent, accused the democrats of negotiating in bad faith on the financing of the government.

“Democrats want to negotiate as terrorists,” said Bessent to CNBC on Thursday, adding that Republicans are looking for a “clean” extension of government financing. Democrats seek to include health care subsidies in this spending bill.

Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts democrat, told CBS that the Democrats had “begged” the Republicans to negotiate, but so far, there have been “zero” talks because the GOP has not committed.

A Washington Post survey revealed that more voters blame Trump and the Republicans for the government’s closure than Democrats – by a margin of 17 points. The self -employed are massively ranked democrats on the issue, but the Democrats are also more united: only 67% of the Republicans blame the Democrats for the closure, while 87% of the Democrats blame the Republicans.

Neither the room nor the Senate should vote on Thursday, respecting the holidays of Yom Kippour. The Senate is expected to come back on Friday, but the Republican leader of the Senate, John Thune, said that the room was “unlikely” to hold votes this weekend. The house will not return to Washington until Tuesday.

Representative byron Donalds, a Republican from Florida, said that he expects the dead end to the start of next week, at least.

“I think it probably goes in next week, could be longer. It’s really in Chuck Schumer,” Donalds said in an interview on Fox Business on Thursday, referring to the Democratic leader of the Senate.

Democrats are pressure for an extension of subsidies to the affordable care law that expires at the end of the year. The Republicans say they want to finance the government before engaging in negotiations on this issue.

“None of these closures, whether republican or inspired democrats, have never achieved their objective,” the representative Tom Cole, the Oklahoma Republican, said in Fox Business, who chairs the Chamber’s credits committee. “It’s a really stupid thing to do.”

Global Forum fortune returns on October 26 to 27, 2025 in Riyadh. CEOs and world leaders will meet for a dynamic event only invitation that shapes the future of business. Request an invitation.