Shutdown fuels mass layoff threat

Trump seeks federal workforce shake-up and 'irreversible' cuts to Democratic plans.

- BY LISA MASCARO, JOSH BOAK AND SEUNG MIN KIM

KENT NISHIMURA Bloomberg HOUSE Speaker Mike Johnson, center, said the shutdown gives Trump vast power over the government.

President Trump has seized on the government shutdown as an opportunity to reshape the federal workforce and punish detractors, meeting with budget director Russ Vought on Thursday to talk through "temporary or permanent" spending cuts that could set up a lose-lose dynamic for Democratic lawmakers.

Trump announced the meeting on social media Thursday morning, saying he and Vought would determine "which of the many Democrat Agencies" would be cut continuing their efforts to slash federal spending by threatening mass firings of workers and suggesting "irreversible" cuts to Democratic priorities.

"I can't believe the Radical Left Democrats gave me this unprecedented opportunity," Trump wrote on his social media account. "They are not stupid people, so maybe this is their way of wanting to, quietly and quickly, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!"

Trump has been very direct about his intentions in saying that he believes the Democrats would get the blame if he chooses to fire people or cut spending as part of the shutdown.

“There could be firings and that’s their fault,” the president said in an interview with One America News, which was set to air Thursday. “I mean, we could cut projects that they wanted, favorite projects, and they'd be permanently cut.”

The Truth Social post was notable in its explicit embrace of Project 2025, a policy blueprint drafted by the Heritage Foundation that Trump distanced himself from during his reelection campaign. The effort aimed to reshape the federal government around right-wing policies, and Democrats repeatedly pointed to its goals to warn of the consequences of a second Trump administration.