JORGE MARTINEZ: Democrats’ Shutdown Strategy Hands Trump Huge Gift

If Chuck Schumer and Democrats continue to insist on putting illegal aliens before Americans, then President Donald J. Trump and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Ross Vought are more than ready to clean house and cut the waste, fraud and abuse that have turned Washington into a monument of inefficiency.

The American people didn’t elect this president to protect bureaucrats. They elected him to protect their jobs, their paychecks, their safety and our borders. That’s why Vought’s announcement that “the RIFs have begun” sent shockwaves through our Nation’s capital. Reductions in Force, or RIFs, is government-speak for layoffs.

But for the American taxpayer, they are the first sign in years that someone in Washington finally gets it: The swamp doesn’t need to grow; it needs to shrink dramatically.

The bloated federal bureaucracy has become a self-perpetuating machine — spending for spending’s sake, hiring for hiring’s sake, and regulating for regulation’s sake. And while Washington has grown, so has frustration across the country. Americans see billions wasted on duplicative programs, inflated contracts and activist projects that do little more than feed the bureaucratic beast.

Meanwhile, after four years of failed economic policies and an open borders agenda from the previous administration, families across the United States have had to tighten their belts, pay more at the grocery store, and still wonder why Washington can’t do the same.

The Trump Administration heard them loud and clear — and their message is simple: If Schumer and the Left want to spend taxpayer money to shelter illegal migrants, expand sanctuary programs and subsidize social services for people who broke the law to come here, then President Trump will spend his time doing what he has been since returning to office — protecting taxpayers, enforcing the law and putting Americans first.

Schumer and his allies on the radical Left love to pretend that every federal dollar is sacred unless, of course, it’s being used to secure the border or deport criminals who are in this country illegally. When it comes to the bloated alphabet soup of agencies, suddenly every bureaucrat is a hero, and every program is “essential.” But what’s really essential is restoring discipline, purpose and accountability in government.

Vought’s reforms and the RIFs now underway are not random cuts. They are targeted, strategic, and long overdue. There are zeroing in on wasteful “climate resilience” grants that serve activist groups more than the environment, bloated administrative overhead that produces paperwork instead of progress, and federal programs that have strayed far beyond their original mission. As Vought has said, his goal isn’t merely to trim the fat; it is to “shutter the bureaucracy,” ending unnecessary offices and returning government to its proper constitutional limits.

Critics are already crying foul, claiming these reductions will hurt federal employees or disrupt operations. But that argument misses the point. The federal government’s job is not to guarantee lifetime employment to bureaucrats. It’s to serve the American people efficiently and effectively. When an office fails to do that, it’s time for reform or closure.

When a program rewards inefficiency, it’s time to end it. And when taxpayer money is diverted from citizens to support illegal aliens, it’s time for accountability.

The numbers tell the story. Since 2020, federal spending has exploded by trillions of dollars. COVID-era emergency spending morphed into permanent baseline bloat. Federal agencies added thousands of new employees, often for overlapping or politicized roles. The result? A government so large it struggles to function and so misaligned it no longer reflects the will of the people.

The Trump administration is changing that. They understand that every dollar wasted in Washington is a dollar not going to securing the border, supporting veterans, rebuilding American energy, or strengthening families and communities. Prioritizing Americans means confronting the reality that the federal government has become too big, too slow, and too expensive to serve its people well.

Of course, Schumer and his friends on the Left call this heartless. They always do. But what’s truly heartless is a government that neglect its citizens while rewarding those who break our laws.

It’s heartless to force taxpayers to fund hotels for illegal migrants while veterans sleep on the streets. It’s heartless to subsidize sanctuary cities while American communities struggle to afford basic necessities.

Russ Vought’s RIFs send a message that resonates far beyond Washington: The days of “business as usual” are over and every position, dollar and program will be scrutinized. If it doesn’t serve the American people, it’s gone. That’s not cruelty; that’s leadership.

In the end, this isn’t just about cuts. It’s about priorities and a government that remembers who it works for. If Schumer wants to play politics with the border, this administration will respond with accountability. If Congress won’t secure the homeland, the executive will streamline government to make room for what truly matters – protecting the nation, its people, and its prosperity.

The Trump administration, with Russ Vought at the helm of OMB, is proving that “America First” isn’t just a slogan; it’s a governing philosophy. It means putting citizens before bureaucrats, taxpayers before activist and sovereignty before globalism.

Schumer can defend the status quo and shutting down the government, but Americans are watching and are ready for a government that finally works for them.

Jorge Martínez is Senior Advisor and National Director of Hispanic Outreach for America First Works. He formerly served as press secretary at the U.S. Department of Justice.