If the White House thought its threat to fire federal workers during a government shutdown would spark a Democratic retreat, so far, it’s not happening.
Instead, multiple congressional Democrats brushed off the prospect of mass layoffs — floated in an Office of Management and Budget memo first reported by POLITICO — as a negotiating tactic and vowed not to bend as a midnight Sept. 30 shutdown deadline approaches.
Among the Democrats still standing firm against a Republican-led seven-week funding punt include those representing many of thousands public employees who would be most at risk if President Donald Trump and OMB director Russ Vought follow through on their threats.
“Whether there’s a shutdown or not, they just keep firing government employees,” said Rep. Glenn Ivey, who represents part of Washington’s Maryland suburbs. “I don’t know that capitulating on this front slows that down. In fact, it might actually encourage them to think that they can stay on the track that they’re currently on.”
Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland called the threats “mafia-style blackmail” in a statement, adding that the potential layoffs are “likely illegal.” Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia said, “For Trump, people’s lives and livelihoods are just bargaining chips.”
Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, added that Trump is a “petty wannabe tyrant” who will “try to abuse a shutdown.” But “that doesn’t mean he gets whatever he wants as a result,” she said.
Democrats are pushing Trump and GOP leaders in Congress to negotiate on a bipartisan shutdown-averting funding bill, noting that Senate Republicans will need a handful of Democratic votes to vault the chamber’s 60-vote filibuster threshold. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Majority Leader Hakeem Jeffries say they want health care to be the centerpiece of those talks.
But it’s not only Democrats who are showing signs of unease with the layoff gambit spearheaded by Vought. It’s emerging as the latest crack in what had been, until this week, a united GOP messaging front.
Senate Appropriation Committee Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) called for passage of the seven-week stopgap bill but added that federal employees “should not be treated as pawns amid a needlessly partisan impasse.”
“No I don’t support mass firings,” Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) said in a brief interview. “But there’s a very simple way to avoid it … pass the CR, which Schumer and Jeffries have repeatedly supported in the past.”
Some Republicans backed Vought Thursday, arguing that the party should be straightforward about what the potential impacts will be if the government shuts down Wednesday. They’re hoping the memo will weigh on Democrats over the coming days, with GOP leaders planning a re-vote on their punt early next week.
“It’s a question that Democrats have to ask themselves,” Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) told reporters on Thursday. “If it starts to last too long then we’re going to have to make permanent cuts.”
Top Republican leaders, meanwhile, have stayed mum on the layoff threats and largely stuck to their previous messaging.
“Democrats are holding the AMERICAN government HOSTAGE — in an attempt to give FREE health care to NONCITIZENS, which was just outlawed by Congress. This isn’t governing. It’s putting illegal aliens FIRST and Americans LAST,” Speaker Mike Johnson posted on X on Thursday.
Johnson’s reference to “illegal aliens” is connected to a Democratic proposal to roll back parts of the recently enacted GOP megabill that would create new roadblocks to prevent states from enrolling undocumented immigrants in public benefit programs.
A spokesperson for Johnson didn’t respond to an inquiry about if he supports permanently laying off federal employees during a shutdown. Spokespeople for Senate Majority Leader John Thune also did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the same question.
The OMB memo told agencies to start drafting “reduction-in-force” plans for agencies and programs that do not have an alternative funding source after Oct. 1, when the government would shutter, and are “not consistent with the President’s priorities.”
The layoff threat comes as Congress and the White House barrel toward the deadline without a clear off-ramp. Trump initially agreed to — and then backed out of — a meeting with Schumer and Jeffries to discuss a path forward.
The OMB memo aligns with concerns Schumer outlined earlier this year when he enraged the Democratic base by shoring up the votes to advance a GOP funding bill — that a shutdown would only empower Vought and Trump to take a sledgehammer to the federal government. But the New York Democrat signaled Wednesday night that Vought’s latest threat was nothing more than an “attempt at intimidation” that would not change his strategy.
“This is nothing new and has nothing to do with funding the government,” Schumer said in a statement, adding that the actions would be challenged in courts or that the administration would ultimately backtrack and bring workers back on the job — as Trump has already done.
Other Democrats have joined Schumer in arguing that, shutdown or not, Trump is determined to wage war against federal employees and would pursue mass firings in any event.
“We know that Republicans wouldn’t stand up to Trump for doing any of these things at any other time anyway,” said Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.). “That’s part of the problem is because they’ve shown to have no spine, no ability to stand up to a rogue administration. These threats just aren’t as strong as they could be.”
Every Senate Democrat save for Pennsylvania’s John Fetterman voted last week to reject the GOP-led funding bill, which would fund the government until Nov. 21. Senate Republicans, meanwhile, rejected a Democratic alternative that would reverse portions of the megabill, restore some funding cut by the Trump administration and also extend health insurance subsidies that are set to lapse on Dec. 31.
Meredith Lee Hill contributed to this report.