Pressure by Design

The sweeping federal layoffs that have accompanied the continuing US government shutdown may appear at first glance to be an ideological crusade against bureaucracy.

- 

Yet, a closer reading suggests something more tactical, a calculated act of political pressure designed to break a legislative stalemate.

If the government has no funding, the administration can credibly argue that it has little choice but to cut costs. But by initiating permanent workforce reductions instead of temporary furloughs, it has transformed financial necessity into a negotiating weapon.

In ordinary shutdowns, the playbook is familiar: agencies suspend operations, workers are sent home, and lawmakers eventually reach a deal that restores both funding and back pay. This shutdown has broken that pattern.