Donald Trump Already Backtracking on Key Dem Shutdown Concession

The Trump administration has already flipped on one key Democrat request for ending the government shutdown.

Seven rogue Democrats and one Independent sided with Republicans in a Senate vote this week to pass a compromise deal to reopen the government, which has been shut since October 1.

The House of Representatives approved the bill on Wednesday night, which is now awaiting President Trump’s sign-off. However, one critical component is set to be missing.

The deal struck with the Democrats included extending government funding through January 30 next year, as well as stopping the Trump administration’s mass firings of federal workers and guaranteeing back pay for staff who worked through the shutdown.

It also stated that thousands of federal staff terminated during the shutdown would get their jobs back.

U.S. President Donald Trump (R) turns to talk to House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) as he delivers remarks on lowering drug prices in the Oval Office at the White House on November 06, 2025 in Washington, DC. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

In a new interview conducted on Wednesday before the House approved the bill, a key GOP player admitted the job cuts will not be reversed.

Tom Emmer, the Majority Whip of the United States House of Representatives, revealed the revised plans following a lunch meeting he had with Trump last week.

“He’s not going to bring back the people that they fired,” Emmer said of Trump. “They were unnecessary; otherwise, they’d still be there. So, they’re not coming back.”

The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.

Emmer, 64, was speaking on the MAGA-friendly radio show and podcast Hot Talk With the Ox. He did confirm that government employees furloughed during the shutdown “are going to come back to work and they will be paid. They will get their back pay… to the 40 days.”

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) speaks during a news conference with House Republican leadership on November 4, 2025 in Washington, DC. Tom Brenner/Getty Images

During the interview, Emmer told Ox he expected the government reopening would happen “tonight or tomorrow.”

He posted on X on Wednesday night the bill had just been sent to Trump’s desk, nothing the GOP “did what’s best for the American people by voting—once again—to fund the government and end the needless Democrat shutdown.“

“While our colleagues on the other side of the aisle seem intent on continuing their futile political games,” Emmer added, “we look forward to continuing to deliver on the America First agenda.”

At the start of the shutdown, Trump, 79, claimed it was an “unprecedented opportunity” to cull government jobs.

“I have a meeting today with Russ Vought, he of PROJECT 2025 Fame, to determine which of the many Democrat Agencies, most of which are a political SCAM, he recommends to be cut, and whether or not those cuts will be temporary or permanent,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on October 2.

“I can’t believe the Radical Left Democrats gave me this unprecedented opportunity.”

Vought, who is known as the “Grim Reaper”, announced the mass firings on October 10.

Russell Vought, Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), speaks with reporters outside of the West Wing of the White House on July 17, 2025 in Washington, DC. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

He posted “The RIFs have begun,” on his X page, meaning reductions in force.

Around 4000 federal workers, many of whom had been furloughed, were terminated from jobs at Homeland Security, the Departments of Education, Commerce, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development and the Treasury.

During the interview, Ox asked Emmer “So some of the Russ Vought stuff will stick?”

Emmer replied “All of the stuff they’ve done is sticking.”

He them slammed the Democrats, noting, “They claim it’s about ‘Oh, we want to reinstate all of these federal employees. I mean, it’s like they’re advocating for the waste, fraud and abuse that Donald Trump has eliminated. It’s crazy.”

Emmer stuck to the usual script of blaming the shutdown on the Democrats, stating, “I don’t know why the American people had to suffer through this and I know that they are going to figure out who did it to them.”

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