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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsTrump 'upping the ante' with new 'threat' if government shuts down next week: report
By Carl Gibson, AlterNet
Published September 24, 2025 10:54 PM ET
Congressional leaders have until the end of the month to agree on a deal to keep government agencies funded. But according to a new report, President Donald Trump's administration is using the possibility of a government shutdown to carry out its plans of permanently hollowing out federal agencies.
On Wednesday, Politico's Sophia Cai reported that agency heads have been handed memos from the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) instructing them to submit reduction-in-force (RIF) plans in the event of a federal government shutdown. This effectively means that the administration is planning to carry out mass firings of federal workers, even though federal employees typically come back to work after Congress agrees on a funding bill.
"The move marks a significant break from how shutdowns have been handled in recent decades, when most furloughs were temporary and employees were brought back once Congress voted to reopen government and funding was restored," Cai wrote. "This time, OMB Director Russ Vought is using the threat of permanent job cuts as leverage, upping the ante in the standoff with Democrats in Congress over government spending."
https://www.rawstory.com/trump-2674031120/
The country cannot survive under a traitor with his blackmail and extortion tactics........shut down the government..........and do not blink.............

yellow dahlia
(3,172 posts)They are the furthest thing from patriots.
dalton99a
(90,412 posts)Captain Zero
(8,453 posts)Left hand/ Right hand
Doh!
ImNotGod
(1,146 posts)fascism. Everyone should be preparing for a "showdown" AKA shutdown. France, South Korea showed US the way, I've been preparing since Nov.
Buddyzbuddy
(1,558 posts)that's on him and the Republican party. Democrats are not responsible for that action.
Captain Zero
(8,453 posts)Keep that fucker in the white house.
Shut off the electricity.
raccoon
(32,044 posts)James48
(4,960 posts)Voight is smart enough to use this as cover for a mass reduction in force. He uses the four days left to write RIF formal notices. Then, the end of the day Tuesday, he hands them out at the same time as regular layoff for budget notices. The employee gets 30 days to appeal, technically. But they wont be paid after Tuesday anyway- so this saves the government the normal 30 days of pay. The government is shut down, so no appeals get processed. Time expires. Done deal.
Anything they can figure out to fire, this week is the time to write it up.
Sad, and harms all workers.
TomCADem
(17,834 posts)And even though many federal workers will be harmed, I still demand that Democrats shut down the government because I just want to vent, and when they ultimately give in because Republican Have no incentive to help Democrats dig themselves out of a hole, I will blame Democrats for caving like most of the Democratic base.
TBF
(35,197 posts)That is a right-wing talking point.
Republicans control Congress, Supreme Court, and Executive Branch. REPUBLICANS are shutting down the government.
Autumn
(48,395 posts)Fuck that give in bullshit. Democrats should be like Bill.
Aussie105
(7,255 posts)People will be hurt when it happens.
But that is a common Republican trademark.
When did Trump do something that benefitted anyone?
raccoon
(32,044 posts)BlueTsunami2018
(4,635 posts)This is the Grover Norquist fantasy come to life.
They want to shrink government to the size where you can drown it in a bathtub. They want to skeleton crew the government agencies with nothing but cronies. This is the threat Shumer used last time to justify giving in. Yeah, the CR is bad but itll be so much worse if we shut down and let them go crazy with no oversight.
This is how you leverage power.
Arazi
(8,393 posts)Theyve been working on that since Jan 20th.
Rip the bandaid off and let them try it.
Buckeyeblue
(6,033 posts)Trump basically governs by EO. Essential services will continue. If anyone suffers it's working people. We have a year until mid-terms.
And the House is close to forcing a vote on releasing the Epstein files. I think we are better off keeping that at the top of the news cycle.