Donald Trump indicated his intention to proceed with significant reductions in the number of US federal employees as he increased pressure on Democrats to support efforts to resolve the government shutdown. The President, a member of the Republican party, stated that he would be meeting with budget chief Russell Vought to assess which Democratic Agencies should be trimmed, defining most of them as politically deceptive, and to decide whether the cuts would be temporary or permanent.
The announcement was made on Trump’s Truth Social platform as the government entered the second day of the shutdown, affecting around 750,000 workers who are expected to be furloughed without pay from various agencies. Vought informed House Republicans that many of these employees would be subject to permanent layoffs to be disclosed within the next few days, echoing the warning from Trump’s spokesperson Karoline Leavitt that terminations were imminent.