President Donald Trump is threatening large-scale firings of federal workers if the federal government shuts down next week, a nuclear tactic to make any funding lapse as painful as possible for Democrats.
In an extraordinary memo sent out by OMB Wednesday, the White House directed federal agencies to come up a with a list of “reductions in force” – layoffs – for workers whose activities aren’t paid for via mandatory funds, didn’t get new money from the One Big Beautiful Bill or whose “PPA [programs, projects or activities] is not consistent with the President’s priorities.”
More from OMB: “Once fiscal year 2026 appropriations are enacted, agencies should revise their RIFs as needed to retain the minimal number of employees necessary to carry out statutory functions.”
OMB didn’t provide any information on the scale of the possible firings. Politico reported that the potential layoffs wouldn’t apply to “Social Security, Medicare, veterans benefits, military operations, law enforcement, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection and air traffic control,” according to an OMB official.
The unprecedented move by OMB Director Russ Vought dramatically raises the stakes of the shutdown fight just five days before the deadline. And it comes as the two sides still aren’t talking about how to avoid an Oct. 1 shutdown. Speaker Mike Johnson, who pushed through a “clean” Nov. 21 CR last week, isn’t even planning on bringing his chamber back until after a shutdown has begun.
For a demoralized federal workforce that’s already been decimated by tens of thousands of DOGE-related layoffs, a lengthy shutdown – with no paychecks – would be a nightmare. The new threat means a shutdown could be the end of their government careers unless Congress or the courts stop it.
Democrats view this OMB memo as an intimidation tactic intended to bully them into accepting the House-passed “clean” CR. That’s not to say it’ll work. But Democrats know that shutdowns are already painful, and what Trump is threatening to do on top of that would be catastrophic.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, however, downplayed Vought’s threat:
You’ll recall that back in March, Schumer justified his decision to help Republicans keep the government open by arguing that Trump and Vought would try to maximize the pain of a shutdown.
Schumer is now demanding a negotiation over more than $1 trillion worth of health care-related policy changes and new restrictions on Trump’s ability to withhold funds. Those asks look quaint in the wake of OMB saying they’ll axe government employees during a shutdown.
“This is Russ Vought’s trademark chaos,” Rep. Rosa DeLauro (Conn.), the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said in response to the OMB memo.
“Instead of coming to the table to negotiate lowering costs and addressing the health care crisis Republicans created, the White House is staging harmful charades like this that will impact all Americans,” DeLauro said.
Dems hardening their stance. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said earlier Wednesday that a bipartisan health care agreement needs to be “in legislation” in order for House Democrats to support any stopgap funding bill. Jeffries added that a verbal commitment from GOP leaders to address the Obamacare enhanced subsidy cliff wouldn’t be sufficient.
In a post on X, Jeffries bashed Vought over the new memo, saying, “We will not be intimidated by your threat to engage in mass firings… Get lost.”
In his campaign account, Jeffries urged Virginia voters – who have a gubernatorial election coming up – to “Remember in November.”
Yet as House minority leader, Jeffries has the easier job here. House Democrats can vote “no” without causing a shutdown. Schumer and Senate Democrats don’t have that luxury. Regardless of whether a deal is struck before Oct. 1 or after a shutdown takes hold, it’ll be extraordinarily difficult for Schumer to come out of this unscathed.
Schumer has repeatedly emphasized his alignment with Jeffries following the March debacle. Schumer, though, would be hard-pressed to echo Jeffries’ comments that any deal needs to be in legislation, at least publicly. If Schumer takes that specific of a position, the veteran party leaders would look bad if he accepts something different in the end.
While some Senate Democrats are very clearly agitating for a shutdown — or at least some sort of high-profile clash with the Trump administration — others are already starting to channel their fears about the catastrophic impacts of such a move.
“If [congressional] leadership and the president just behave like adults and sit down at the table and work this out, this is not something that can’t be worked out,” Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) told us Wednesday.
The New Hampshire Democrat is adamant that there’s a deal to be had on enhanced Obamacare subsidies her party is pressing for. She also noted that the Senate Appropriations Committee has made good headway on bipartisan funding bills. A shutdown — especially the kind Vought is threatening — could all but destroy the prospects for a long-term funding deal.
The OMB threat, however, helps explain why many Democrats have cast doubt on the viability of a bipartisan deal on FY2026 appropriations that Senate Majority Leader John Thune is pushing for. These Democrats note that Vought has shown he’ll ignore cross-party agreements anyway.
Happening today. Jeffries will be our guest on Fly Out Day. What a time to have the top House Democrat at the Punchbowl News Townhouse.
