Posted on 10/01/2025 12:46:55 PM PDT by Red Badger
The Trump administration has threatened to inflict maximum pain on Democrats during the shutdown.
OMB chief Russ Vought told House Republicans on a private call Wednesday that the administration will start mass reduction in force moves, or firings, of federal workers “in a day or two,” according to four people granted anonymity to describe the call.
Vought and President Donald Trump have both threatened to inflict maximum pain on Democrats during the shutdown as Senate Republicans hope to peel off additional Democrats in the coming days to vote for the GOP-led stopgap to end the standoff. A bipartisan group of senators also discussed several early off-ramp ideas on the floor earlier Wednesday.
Vought warned that money is about to run out for both the nutrition program for low-income moms and babies, known as WIC, and for pay for active-duty members of the military.
Troops are set to miss paychecks starting Oct. 15 if the government remains closed. Lawmakers in both chambers are preparing legislation to pay troops amid the shutdown, but GOP leaders will wait before making a call to put such a bill to a vote, given it lessens their leverage on Democrats, according to three other people with direct knowledge granted anonymity. Leaders are so far sticking to the argument that Democrats need to approve the clean, seven week stopgap if they want to pay troops.
Vought also said billions in infrastructure money for New York, the home state of both Democratic leaders, is being “reviewed.”
Speaker Mike Johnson told Republicans on the call that because of fraud, serious reforms are needed for the Affordable Care Act tax credits Democrats are demanding an extension of in the shutdown standoff. In response to a question from Rep. Rick Allen (R-Ga.), Johnson said that Vice President JD Vance said at the White House briefing that there is a time to negotiate health care, but now is not that time.
Allen railed against any ACA extension deal, detailing how how expensive it would be. He also pushed to bring back efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare altogether.
Overall, Vought didn’t provide a lot of details for House Republicans during the call. “He was surprisingly vague on everything,” said another person with direct knowledge of it.
Hill GOP leaders have also been wary of embracing Trump’s promises to slash federal workers and “benefits” during the shutdown, especially given the blowback some Republicans in competitive districts will face.
Also on Wednesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters at a briefing that the federal layoffs would happen “very soon.” Democrats, she claimed, are forcing the administration’s hand — and are at fault for the upcoming upheaval.
“Unfortunately, because the Democrats shut down the government, the president has directed his cabinet, and the Office of Management and Budget is working with agencies across the board, to identify where cuts can me made,” she said. “And we believe that layoffs are imminent. They are unfortunately a consequence of this government shutdown.”
As the shutdown approached, congressional Democrats refused to bend to White House pressure over its reduction-in-force plans. Now, the administration insists it will follow through.
“If they’re so worried about the effect this is having on the American people, and they should be, what they should do is reopen the government,” Vice President JD Vance told reporters at the briefing. “Not complain about how we respond to the fact that Chuck Schumer and the Democrats have shut down the government in the first place.”
Gregory Svirnovskiy contributed to this report.
Keep it a secret. We can be pleasantly surprised when the cows begin to moo in unison stampeding out of DC.
MOOOOOVE ON OUT!.................
RAWHIDE!
In a day or two eh? I’ll bet the Dems cave in less than 24 hours.
Amen.......
Democrats, do NOT cave to this nonsense. Let the shutdown continue! Show those nasty Republicans for what they are. Pleeeaaase. Throw us in the briar patch.
“””Democrats, do NOT cave to this nonsense. Let the shutdown continue! Show those nasty Republicans for what they are.”
Yup. PLEASE keep telling everyone you won’t open the government until ILLEGALS get FREE healthcare. It’s a winning issue. Trust me.
And hopefully AOC can take the lead on this. She is a treasure.
“””And hopefully AOC can take the lead on this. She is a treasure.””””
She is the most smartest. She should be on tv 24/7 spreading the message. After all, people listen to bartenders.
Too bad they can’t fire Chuck and that other guy ,LOL
Eric Daugherty
@EricLDaugh
🚨 BREAKING: OMB Director Russ Vought just CANCELED $8 BILLION in Green New Scam climate funding during the government shutdown for the following states
CA, CO, CT, DE, HI, IL, MD, MA, MN, NH, NJ, NM, NY, OR, VT, WA
LMAO!
Democrats screwed themselves over now!
https://x.com/EricLDaugh/status/1973451076704805176
8% of the govt actually shuts down, the rest keeps right on going.
I am not really sure the administration can legally do this as it seems to violate the Anti Deficiency Act and the laws about how a reduction in force must be carried out. If they want to reduce the workforce, they can certainly do that but they should take their time and do it the right way so it can withstand court challenges.
Or less.
When you see the cellophane wrapped Bankers Box deliveries you have a clue that people are leaving soon.
GO, RUSS, GO!
GO, RUSS, GO!
GO, RUSS, GO!
GO, RUSS, GO!
etc.!!!!!!!...
So much winning! I can’t take all the winning!
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