U.S. President Donald Trump signaled on Thursday that he will intensify pressure on Democrats during the ongoing government shutdown, saying he plans to meet with budget director Russell Vought to determine which “Democrat Agencies” to cut.
“I can’t believe the Radical Left Democrats gave me this unprecedented opportunity,” Trump wrote in a social media post, casting the standoff as a chance to weaken political opponents.
The shutdown, which began Wednesday after Congress failed to pass a spending bill, has already halted scientific research, economic data releases, and other government functions, while suspending pay for some 2 million federal workers.
About 750,000 have been furloughed, while others, including troops and Border Patrol agents, are working without pay.
Trump has already frozen federal transit and green-energy funds to Democratic-leaning states and threatened to accelerate federal layoffs, with his administration on pace to push out 300,000 workers by year’s end.
White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said thousands more jobs could be cut, though she provided no specifics.
The president’s approach has drawn on Project 2025, a conservative blueprint by the Heritage Foundation to downsize government, including dismantling the Department of Education and scaling back environmental regulation.
Democrats accused Trump of abusing the shutdown to punish opponents. Senator Patty Murray of Washington, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, warned: “If the president fires a bunch of people, it’s not because of his shutdown, it’s because HE decided to fire them.
People aren’t negotiating tools, and it’s sick that the president is treating federal workers like pawns.”
The standoff has frozen about $1.7 trillion in annual agency funding, nearly one-quarter of federal spending. Programs like Social Security remain unaffected, but a prolonged shutdown could disrupt air travel, threaten food aid, and slow mortgage approvals and exports.
Federal employee unions have filed lawsuits against mass firings, though courts have allowed layoffs to proceed while litigation continues.
Trump’s Republicans hold majorities in both chambers of Congress, but Senate rules require at least seven Democratic votes to pass a funding bill.
Democrats have demanded any deal include an extension of health subsidies expiring at year’s end, while Republicans insist the issues be handled separately.
The Senate is not scheduled to reconvene until Friday, ensuring the shutdown will continue at least into the weekend.
House Speaker Mike Johnson defended Trump’s authority to redirect resources: “When Congress turns off the funding and the funding runs out, it is up to the commander in chief … to determine how those resources will be spent. The Democrats can’t complain about it.”
The shutdown is the 15th since 1981. The longest, lasting 35 days in 2018–19 during Trump’s first term, was triggered by a fight over immigration policy.
Source: Reuters
Written By Rodney Mbua
