Donald Trump’s White House budget office has prepped key federal agencies to brace for mass firings in the event of a government shutdown next week.
The plans have reportedly been put in place if Congress fails to pass a spending bill before Oct. 1.
A memo prepared by the Office of Management and Budget, viewed by Politico, directs agencies to target programs they have no legal obligation to uphold.
The OMB’s memo says it will move beyond the usual process of furloughing government employees during shutdowns to implement potentially sweeping job losses.
“Programs that did not benefit from an infusion of mandatory appropriations will bear the brunt of a shutdown, and we must continue our planning efforts in the event Democrats decide to shut down the government,” the memo reads.
It warns that agencies should prepare for staff to be fired permanently if they are working in programs or projects that will lose their funding on Oct. 1 and cannot find alternative backing and are “not consistent with the president’s priorities.”
Programs that will not be affected by a shutdown will include Social Security, Medicare, veterans’ benefits, military operations, law enforcement, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection, and air traffic control, according to an OMB source cited by Politico.
The Daily Beast has contacted the OMB for comment.
The threat of firings adds intensity to the already tense standoff between Democrats and Republicans ahead of the Sept. 30 government funding deadline.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer criticized OMB Director Russell Vought on Wednesday night after the contents of the memo leaked.
“This is an attempt at intimidation. Donald Trump has been firing federal workers since day one—not to govern, but to scare,” Schumer said in a statement.
“This is nothing new and has nothing to do with funding the government,” he added. “These unnecessary firings will either be overturned in court or the administration will end up hiring the workers back, just like they did as recently as today.”
Schumer was referring to news that the White House was begging hundreds of federal staffers laid off by the so-called Department of Government Efficience to come back to work.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries posted on X, “Listen Russ, you are a malignant political hack. We will not be intimidated by your threat to engage in mass firings. Get lost.”
Trump said on Truth Social this week that he was axing a meeting with leading Democrats called to avert a shutdown.
“After reviewing the details of the unserious and ridiculous demands being made by the Minority Radical Left Democrats in return for their Votes to keep our thriving Country open, I have decided that no meeting with their Congressional Leaders could possibly be productive,” the president wrote.
Schumer soon hit back: “Trump and Republicans are holding America hostage. Donald Trump will own the shutdown.”
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