The federal government entered a partial shutdown early Wednesday after Democrats and Republicans failed to reach an agreement on a funding package, with President Donald Trump suggesting the standoff could open the door to permanent changes in the federal workforce.
Senate lawmakers missed the midnight deadline to approve a budget for fiscal year 2025.
According to Fox News, a short-term funding extension had passed the House earlier in September, keeping the government running through Nov. 21, but bipartisan talks collapsed in the Senate.
In the hours leading up to the shutdown, Trump made clear that while he did not want the government to close, he saw opportunities in the crisis.
“We don’t want it to shut down because we have the greatest period of time ever,” Trump said from the Oval Office Tuesday. “I tell you, we have $17 trillion being invested. So the last person that wants it shut down is us.”
Still, he added: “Now, with that being said, 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.”
The president has repeatedly pushed to reduce the size of government and slash federal programs he says waste taxpayer money. A shutdown does not grant new powers to the White House, but it does give the executive branch wide discretion over what services continue to operate.
The standoff quickly turned into a battle of blame. Republicans argued Democrats blocked funding to try to extend Obamacare subsidies set to expire at the end of 2025.
Democrats, meanwhile, accused Republicans of hijacking the process and falsely claiming they wanted to provide taxpayer-funded health benefits for illegal immigrants.
“They say that undocumented people are going to get these credits,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Tuesday. “That is absolutely false. That is one of the big lies that they tell.”
Trump highlighted the power the White House now has through the Office of Management and Budget. “Russell Vought become very popular recently because he can trim the budget to a level that you couldn’t do any other way,” Trump said, noting that the administration could use the shutdown to cut federal jobs and benefits.
Vought, OMB’s director, released a memo Tuesday evening declaring the shutdown imminent and blamed “Democrats’ insane policy demands, which include $1 trillion in new spending.”
“It is unclear how long Democrats will maintain their untenable posture,” Vought wrote, but told employees to report for “orderly shutdown activities.”
Vice President JD Vance also acknowledged layoffs were coming. “We’re going to have to make things work,” he said Wednesday. “That means certain people are going to have to get laid off. And we’re going to try to make sure that the American people suffer as little as possible from the shutdown.”
Vance stressed that cuts would not be politically targeted. “We’re in a shutdown, that causes some problems,” he said. “The troops aren’t getting paid. There’s nothing that we can do about that while the government is shut down. But there are essential services that we want to make sure as, as much as possible, they still continue to function.”
The administration’s approach reflects Trump’s ongoing mission to cut what he calls waste and fraud across the federal government. Earlier this year, the administration offered buyouts to federal employees before beginning reduction-in-force efforts.
“We have hundreds of thousands of federal workers who have not been showing up to work,” Trump told Congress in March. “My administration will reclaim power from this unaccountable bureaucracy, and we will restore true democracy to America again.”
“And any federal bureaucrat who resists this change will be removed from office immediately, because we are draining the swamp,” he added.
Tech billionaire Elon Musk was tapped to lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which has spearheaded audits of federal spending and flagged what Trump has called “flagrant scams.” The agency has been a lightning rod for Democrats, who have sued to block its work.
Trump has publicly praised DOGE’s efforts, citing examples of foreign aid programs he wants cut. “Twenty-five million dollars to promote biodiversity conservation and socially responsible behavior in Colombia. This is Colombia, South America, not Columbia University. Of course, that might be worse,” Trump joked at CPAC in February.
“Forty-two million for social and behavior change in Uganda,” he continued. “Ten million for Mozambique medical male circumcisions. Why are we going to Mozambique to do circumcisions?”
As the shutdown begins, the White House has indicated it does not expect the closure to last long, but both Trump and his allies suggest the layoffs and cuts that come from it could last well beyond any budget deal.
