President Donald Trump said Thursday that he’ll speak with Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought about which ”Democrat Agencies” should be nixed as the government shutdown enters its second day.
“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.
Seven hundred and fifty thousand federal employees could be furloughed, according to the Congressional Budget Office. But while the dismissals that often accompany shutdowns are generally temporary, Vought’s Office of Management and Budget circulated a memo last week asking agencies to prepare major reduction-in-force plans for a shutdown scenario.
Vought told House Republicans on Wednesday that mass firings would kick off “in a day or two.”
White House officials are seeking to portray any layoffs as a necessary and disciplined step, as Democrats push to extend insurance subsidies for the Affordable Care Act in exchange for their votes on the GOP’s continuing resolution.
“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 a White House press briefing on Wednesday. “Not complain about how we respond to the fact that Chuck Schumer and the Democrats have shut down the government in the first place.”
But Trump has repeatedly suggested that he’s looking forward to the job cuts.
“I can’t believe the Radical Left Democrats gave me this unprecedented opportunity,” he wrote on Truth Social. “They are not stupid people, so maybe this is their way of wanting to, quietly and quickly, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
Vought has already announced plans to claw back funding from Democrat-led cities and states. On Wednesday, he wrote on X that the White House was cutting $8 billion in energy funding from 16 states, all of which voted for former Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 election. The administration is also threatening to withhold funding for New York City’s Gateway Tunnel project.
