President Donald Trump said Thursday that Democrats gave him an “unprecedented opportunity” to cut federal agencies, signaling plans to harm his political opponents during the 2-day government shutdown while blaming them for causing it.
Trump’s warning came a day after his administration froze about $18 billion for two major infrastructure projects in New York and canceled about $8 billion more for climate-related projects in Democratic states.
The top Democrats leading the shutdown fight, Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, both represent New York.
Both funding ends were first announced by Russell Vought, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, and not by the departments that have oversight of the projects.
Trump said he will meet with Vought soon “to determine which of the many Democratic agencies, most of which are a political scam, he recommends be cut.”
The two men will also weigh “whether these cuts will be temporary or permanent,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“I can’t believe the radical left Democrats gave me this unprecedented opportunity,” he added.
The Trump administration, in a memo released by Vought’s OMB, warned federal agencies last week to prepare for mass layoffs in the event of a shutdown.
Trump, when asked about the memo, said: “There could be layoffs and it’s their fault.”
“We could cut projects that they wanted, favorite projects, and they would be cut permanently,” he said in a recent interview with conservative media outlet Oan.
Top White House officials — including Vought and Vice President JD Vance — said Wednesday those layoffs would begin within days.
And White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday that the number of federal layoffs was “probably going to be in the thousands.”
It was unclear when Trump and Vought were scheduled to meet. The White House responded to a request for details about the meeting with an automated message blaming Democrats for the shutdown and warning that its correspondence with the press may be delayed as a result.
Vought was a key author of Project 2025, the conservative plan for massive reform of the American government.
Trump repeatedly disavowed Project 2025 while running for president, saying he and his campaign had “nothing to do with it.”
But in Thursday’s post, Trump introduced Vought as “the one of Project 2025 fame.”
The federal shutdown began Wednesday after a divided Congress failed to pass a bill to keep the government fully funded beyond the fiscal year that ended Tuesday.
Republicans, who hold the White House and slim majorities in the House and Senate, wanted to pass a bill to keep funding at current levels through the end of November.
Democrats, whose support is needed to overcome the 60-vote Senate hurdle, want any short-term funding to include an extension of the enhanced Obamacare tax credits, which are due at the end of the year. The enhanced subsidies reduce health insurance premium costs for a broader swath of Affordable Care Act enrollees.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Thursday morning on CNBC’s “Squawk” that Democrats negotiate like “terrorists.”
Bessent also said he “can guarantee there won’t be a deal” when it comes to the ACA credits dispute.
Past government shutdowns have resulted in hundreds of thousands of federal workers being furloughed, meaning placed on unpaid leave. But they are generally guaranteed to return once the government reopens.
Vance, asked Wednesday why the Trump administration was preparing for firefighters instead of just competing with them, said, “We haven’t made any final decisions on what we’re going to do with certain workers.”
“What we’re saying is we might have to take extraordinary measures, especially the longer this happens,” he said.
Competing short-term funding bills that were reintroduced by Republicans and Democrats failed to pass the Senate on Wednesday.
No votes were scheduled for Thursday due to the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur, meaning the shutdown will last until at least Friday.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said his chamber would vote again on the Republican-held measure Friday.
