Trump to discuss federal job cuts with Budget director

Treasury Secretary Bessent says Democrats want to negotiate like terrorists

- AGENCIES

Signs posted outside the Library of Congress during the partial US shutdown

US President Donald Trump said he would meet with White House Budget Director Russell Vought to discuss potential cuts to the federal workforce, heightening pressure on Democrats to end the government shutdown, which has entered its second day.

Trump on social media said the Thursday meeting would “determine which of the many Democrat Agencies, most of which are apolitical SCAM, he recommends to be cut, and whether or not those cuts will be temporary or permanent.”

The President’s comments escalate a threat from Republicans to use the shutdown to slash the federal bureaucracy. Vought has also begun withholding spending for New York City transit projects and clean energy programs in states that voted for Democrat Kamala Harris in 2024.

It's not yet clear what the scale of the federal downsizing could be, but Senator Shelley Moore Capito, a West Virginia Republican, predicted there could be sizable cuts.