Trump calls government shutdown ‘unprecedented opportunity’ to fire federal workers

Washington: US President Donald Trump has reiterated his threat to fire more federal workers, a day after the country’s government was shut down.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump called the shutdown an “unprecedented opportunity” and announced that he is meeting Russell Vought, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, to discuss cuts in federal agencies.

“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. I can’t believe the Radical Left Democrats gave me this unprecedented opportunity. They are not stupid people, so maybe this is their way of wanting to, quietly and quickly, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!,” he posted.

Trump’s statement comes a day after the White House said that the federal job layoffs are “imminent” as a consequence of the government shutdown.

“Unfortunately, because the Democrats shut down the government, the President has directed his cabinet, and the Office of Management and Budget is working with agencies across the board to identify where cuts can be made. And we believe that layoffs are imminent,” she said.

Vice President J D Vance also took the podium on Wednesday and blamed Democrats for the situation.

“If this thing drags on for another few days, or, God forbid, another few weeks, we are going to have to lay people off. We’re going to have to save money in some places, so the essential services don’t get turned off in other places,” he asserted.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries countered the firing threat, calling the government “a job-killing administration.”

“These are all things that the Trump administration has been doing since January 20, the mass firings of federal workers. The Trump administration has been killing jobs. This is a job-killing administration,” he added.

The Republicans have accused Democrats of demanding healthcare subsidies for illegal immigrants, which the Democrats reject as a lie peddled by the Trump administration.

Democrats say they are asking to reverse the healthcare cuts for American citizens in the “Big Beautiful Bill” which was passed earlier this year.

About 750,000 federal workers have been furloughed, while many others have been forced to work without pay.

Essential services such as border protection, law enforcement and air-traffic control continue to function for now, while food assistance programmes, government-funded pre-school, food inspectors and operations at national parks could be adversely affected soon.

If the shutdown is extended over a long period, air travel could face challenges as many of those workers would be forced to work without pay and may not report for duty.

While the Republicans control both the Senate and the House of Representatives, they are eight votes short in the Senate, as the funding bill requires 60 votes to pass.

It is the first US government shutdown in seven years with the last one also happening under Trump 1.0. It lasted for 35 days – the longest in the US history.

IANS