by WorldTribune Staff / 247 Real News October 1, 2025
President Donald Trump warned Democrats that allowing the federal government to shut down enables his administration to make “massive layoffs” and take “irreversible” actions including shutting down programs important to them.
“We can do things during the shutdown that are irreversible, that are bad for them and irreversible by them, like cutting vast numbers of people out, cutting things that they like, cutting programs that they like,” Trump said in remarks to reporters from the Oval Office on Tuesday.
The federal government officially entered a partial shutdown on Wednesday after the midnight deadline passed with Democrats and Republicans failing to agree on a funding bill.
An earlier attempt by Senate Republicans to pass a short-term extension of fiscal year (FY) 2025 government funding levels, called a continuing resolution (CR), was sunk by Democrats who were reportedly furious about being sidelined in shutdown negotiations.
The bill, which would have given Congress until Nov. 21 to set FY 2026 funding priorities, passed the House largely along party lines on Sept. 19. The Senate is expected to vote on the same bill again on Wednesday, with more votes to come through the rest of the week and into the weekend until either a deal is struck or Democrats relent.
“You all know Russell Vought,” Trump added, referring to the director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). “He’s become very popular recently because he can trim the budget to a level that you couldn’t do any other way.”
Trump and the OMB now have wide discretion over what federal services will remain active. Thousands of government workers are set to be furloughed or made to temporarily work without paychecks. Several federal agencies could be closed.
Vought released a memo shortly after the GOP’s CR failed that said because it was “clear” that Senate Democrats would block any more attempts to pass the bill before the deadline, “affected agencies should now execute their plans for an orderly shutdown.”
“It is unclear how long Democrats will maintain their untenable posture, making the duration of the shutdown difficult to predict,” the memo read. “Regardless, employees should report to work for their next regularly scheduled tour of duty to undertake orderly shutdown activities.”
Democrats had pushed for a continuing resolution in order to extend Obamacare subsidies that were enhanced during the Covid pandemic but were set to expire at the end of 2025.
Republican leaders signaled they were willing to discuss those healthcare dollars later this year but accused Democrats of risking the entire federal government over their demands.
“There isn’t any substantive reason why there ought to be a government shutdown. This is something that has been done routinely, as I said, 13 different times when the Democrats had the majority. But we are not going to be held hostage for over $1 trillion in new spending on a continuing resolution,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said.
Trump warns Democrats of ‘irreversible’ actions as shutdown begins added by Editor Two on
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