Trump Already Using Shutdown to Slash Federal Spending, Plans to Make Job Cuts

CAPITOL HILL - President Trump is using the government shutdown as an opportunity to cut federal spending. Those potential cuts could mean some federal employees risk facing permanent layoffs.   

As lawmakers in Washington remain deadlocked on day three of the government shutdown, the Senate is expected to vote again on a funding bill today.

President Trump is calling the federal shutdown an "unprecedented opportunity" to downsize the government.  

In a meeting with Budget Director Russell Vought on Thursday, Trump said the two would discuss which federal agencies should face temporary or permanent cuts.

"I'm allowed to cut things that should have never been approved in the first place and I will probably do that," Trump said.

Russell Vought, Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) with Republican Leadership outside the West Wing of the White House, September 29, 2025. (Photo by Aaron Schwartz/Sipa USA)(Sipa via AP Images)

The talks are happening on the heels of the president freezing about $18 billion in funding for New York City infrastructure projects and canceling another $8 billion for climate projects in 16 Democratic-leaning states.

Still, with no sign of a spending agreement, many workers' livelihoods remain at stake.  The Trump administration warned it could start firing federal workers before the weekend.

In an interview on '2-way,' Politico's Rachel Bade points to workers in essential fields like TSA, air traffic control, and national parks who could all be required to show up, without pay, until the shutdown ends.

"The pressure is just going to skyrocket on Democrats right now," she explained.

A partial shutdown started Wednesday, when the fiscal year ended after a divided Congress failed to agree on a funding bill.

Republicans want to pass a short-term bill to maintain funding at existing levels until late November. But Democrats want that short-term funding to include extending Obamacare tax credits, so health insurance premiums don't go up for millions of Americans.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries argued, "Republicans have shut the government down, because they don't want to provide health care to middle-class Americans."

Democrats are showing little sign of budging from their demand for concessions on health care.  

And as conservatives work on plans for reforming health care, Senate Majority Leader John Thune told Politico he's had conversations with Democrats on those Obamacare insurance subsidies. He says he's willing to discuss a negotiation, but not until the government reopens under a spending measure that's already passed the House.

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