President Donald Trump has threatened to fire federal employees if Democrats don’t cave to Republican demands and pass a GOP funding plan to keep the federal government open past Tuesday.
The president is set to meet with congressional leaders of both parties on Monday after blowing off an initial meeting with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, both of New York.
Despite the meeting, Trump told NBC News that a shutdown was still a “possibility” and warned that Republicans would use a federal closure to permanently fire federal employees instead of just putting them on temporary furlough.
“If there is [a shutdown], we are going to cut a lot of the people that … we’re able to cut on a permanent basis, and we will be doing that,” he said. “I’d rather not do that.”
Last week, Trump’s budget director, Russell Vought, warned agencies to prepare for mass firings in the event of a government shutdown.
A leaked memo about the plans added to the already tense standoff between Democrats and Republicans, but did little to sway Democratic leaders.
“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. “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.”
The threat of firings came as news broke that the White House was begging hundreds of federal staffers laid off by the so-called Department of Government Efficiency to return to work.
Jeffries was even blunter, posting on the social media platform X, “Listen Russ, you are a malignant political hack. We will not be intimidated by your threat to engage in mass firings. Get lost.”
A government shutdown was avoided in March after Senate Democrats caved and handed Trump a victory by voting in favor of a Republican spending bill that funded the government through Sept. 30.
The party erupted in a civil war over the move, which Schumer called a “Hobson’s choice.”
“I believe that allowing Donald Trump to take even more power via a government shutdown is a far worse option,” Schumer argued at the time, even as Rep. Nancy Pelosi blasted him for his “unacceptable” decision.
Faced with a base that is demanding more fight from its leaders, Schumer is playing hard ball this time and trying to seize a rare opportunity to advance Democrats’ health policy goals, including extending Obamacare funding and rolling back GOP cuts to Medicaid.
Earlier this month, the House passed a Republican stopgap bill that would extend government funding at current levels through Nov. 21.
The Senate has rejected both the GOP extension and a Democratic plan that would permanently extend Obamacare subsidies, which are set to expire at the end of the year.
House lawmakers won’t be back in session until Oct. 7, a whole week after the government funding deadline.
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