President Donald Trump says a government shutdown is now looking likely after Tuesday. In a phone interview with CBS News Sunday, the president said he doesn’t see “how we’re going to solve this issue” before Tuesday, when government funding is set to expire.
He said he believes Democrats will pay a political price for not working with him to further cut funding.
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Potential government shutdown
Trump’s comments come as negotiations in Congress remain at a stalemate. Democrats are insisting on a bipartisan bill that includes health care funding, but Republicans aren’t budging.
Specifically, Democrats are demanding that Republicans agree to reverse Medicaid cuts, restore public media funding and continue subsidies for Affordable Care Act (ACA) plans.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said Republicans are willing to work with Democrats on the condition that they must be willing to spend less money than last year.
But while speaking with CBS on Sunday, the president referred to the Democrats’ wishes as “ill-advised.” He said if Democrats want to talk about health care, they should work with him to prevent undocumented migrants from accessing public benefits.
“The Democrats, incredibly, want to keep their old policies of open borders, and we’re not going to have it. We’re not going to allow it,” Trump said.
The Republican-controlled House passed a short-term bill to fund the government through Nov. 21, but the Senate rejected both the GOP and Democratic proposals to keep the government open.
Trump will host top congressional leaders — Schumer, Thune, Johnson and Jeffries — on Monday afternoon for one more round of talks. Unless there’s a breakthrough, a shutdown will take effect at midnight on Tuesday.
Firings, not furloughs
As a potential shutdown looms, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) told federal agencies to prepare for mass layoffs in programs that would lose funding and are “not consistent with the president’s priorities.”
A memo from OMB states: “Programs that did not benefit from an infusion of mandatory appropriations will bear the brunt of a shutdown, and we must continue our planning efforts in the event Democrats decide to shut down the government.”
The memo marks a major shift from past shutdowns. Previously, the government furloughed federal workers who later returned to their jobs once Congress cut a deal.
Democrats criticized the memo, saying they won’t be intimidated.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY, issued a statement saying: “This is an attempt at intimidation. Donald Trump has been firing federal workers since day one — not to govern, but to scare. This is nothing new and has nothing to do with funding the government. These unnecessary firings will either be overturned in court or the administration will end up hiring the workers back.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-NY, posted on X, saying, “Listen Russ, you are a malignant political hack. We will not be intimidated by your threat to engage in mass firings. Get lost.”
