President Donald Trump said Monday he’s on the verge of enacting mass firings of federal workers. But Democrats say it won’t make them budge in the increasingly rancorous shutdown standoff.
The mass layoffs, dreamed up by White House budget director Russ Vought, would be the most significant pressure point yet as the shutdown enters a seventh day Tuesday — if Trump follows through. Already he has blown past Vought’s own prediction that firings would start by the end of last week, and no action was taken in the immediate aftermath of a fifth failed Senate vote Monday to reopen the government.
But ahead of that vote, Democrats projected defiance and argued the White House threats are hollow — not because they don’t believe the administration won’t follow through, but because they think it would be swinging the meat-axe regardless.
“They were firing people right and left before the government shutdown,” said Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Senate Democrat, when asked about the threats.
Proceeding with “reductions in force,” as Vought has threatened, would go well beyond the typical shutdown furloughs, where federal workers are hired back once the government reopens. But they would be in keeping with the Trump administration’s sledgehammer approach to the federal bureaucracy since January.
Trump officials have made no secret they are using the threats as a cudgel in the shutdown fight: One of his top economic advisers, Kevin Hassett, said Sunday the administration was closely watching how Democrats voted Monday night — in effect, daring them to risk their own constituents’ livelihoods.
More than 20 percent of the federal workforce resides in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia. But even Democrats representing the capital’s suburbs shrugged off the threat.
“[Federal workers] know that he’s going to move forward with firing as many federal government employees as he possibly can,” Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-Md.) told reporters. “And this is a threat that they don’t think is any different from what he’s been doing before, and I think they’re right.”
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) was more direct in a gaggle with reporters last week, calling Trump’s plans “Mafia-style threats and blackmail.”
They have backing from federal worker unions, who have generally encouraged Democrats to keep up their fight against Trump as lawmakers urge Republicans to come to the negotiating table on health care. Democrats also believe that the threat of a steep premium hike for Affordable Care Act insurance plans will resonate with voters in the midterms.
Two of the biggest unions, the American Federation of Government Employees and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, filed a federal lawsuit last week seeking to block Vought from proceeding with any layoffs during a shutdown — arguing that mass firings are among the nonessential activities that must be curtailed during an appropriations lapse.
Asked about the threats Monday, Trump said if the shutdown continues, “It could, at some point it will” trigger layoffs
The firings aren’t the only pressure point bearing down on lawmakers and the administration. Most civilian federal workers will miss their first payback Friday, while active duty military members could go without pay starting Oct. 15.
Durbin acknowledged that there might be a “tripping point” where the fallout from a shutdown forces a resolution but could not say what it might be.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters shortly after Monday night’s vote that if there are layoffs “it falls on Donald Trump’s shoulders.”
“He’s doing it, not Democrats,” the New York Democrat said. “And the American people know that.”
Democrats have been buoyed by polling that shows voters holding Trump and Republicans more responsible for the shutdown than Democrats — for now. That has given Democrats confidence in their positions, with some saying they have been emboldened by the mass-firing threats.
“Having been in many budget negotiations, I know that the person to make the first threat is usually the one with the least leverage,” said Rep. Sarah Elfreth (D-Md.).
Trump suggested Monday he was already in talks with Democrats about their health care demands, but top Democratic leaders quickly batted down that claim while emphasizing that they stand ready to negotiate.
“I do not know of any Democrats who have spoken to President Trump or members of his administration on this issue of reopening the government, enacting a bipartisan spending agreement, and addressing the Republican health care crisis,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters Monday, while Schumer similarly told reporters that it was his “understanding” that Trump had not spoken to any Democrats.
Some Republicans, like Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville, have defended Trump and Vought’s threats, saying layoffs are necessary to address a “bloated” federal bureaucracy. “We’ve got to find some way to cut back on the debt we have,” Tuberville added.
But others have reacted to the mass firing threats with unease. They worry that the Trump administration’s bald attempts to focus political pain on Democrats and their constituencies muddles their attempt to keep the shutdown blame game focused solely on Schumer and Senate Democrats — and makes a solution to the standoff harder to find.
“I think that digs us a deeper hole,” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said last week in reference to Vought’s campaign targeting blue states. “I think if you do that, you’re going to create a bad faith environment.”
Jennifer Scholtes contributed to this report.
