Democrats in Congress, led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, demanded lavish government spending on projects run by their friends, some $1.5 trillion, during a few weeks of budgeting addressed in a proposed continuing resolution.
The administration of President Donald Trump said the government couldn’t and wouldn’t afford that, so Schumer, working with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, assembled votes to kill the resolution, leaving the government in partial shutdown.
Now the layoffs are coming.
Karoline Leavitt, White House press secretary, on Thursday said “thousands” will be laid off if Democrats don’t work to reopen the government quickly.
“It’s likely going to be in the thousands,” she said. “That’s something that the Office of Management and Budget and the entire team at the White House here again, is unfortunately having to work on today. These discussions and these conversations, these meetings, would not be happening if the Democrats had voted to keep the government open.”
The president already has confirmed a meeting is scheduled with Office of Management and Budget director Russell Vought to finalize the total number of layoffs.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has explained the process, and the fact the president has the authority to lay off employees.
“This is the way the system works,” Johnson said. “The president takes no pleasure in this. The president did not want a shutdown.”
Trump has mentioned the possibility of federal worker layoffs several times, warning Democrats before they pushed for the shutdown that it could happen.
He repeated the warning: “I have a meeting today with Russ Vought, he of PROJECT 2025 Fame, to determine which of the many Democrat Agencies, most of which are a political SCAM, he recommends to be cut, and whether or not those cuts will be temporary or permanent.”
He posted the plans on Truth Social.
Johnson said Democrats, in their shutdown of the government, abandoned their responsibility.
“When Congress turns off the funding, and the funding runs out, it is up to the Commander in Chief, the president of the United States, to determine how those resources will be spent,” Johnson said.
BREAKING: Karoline Leavitt CONFIRMS mass federal layoffs are imminent, thanks to the Schumer Shutdown
Tens of THOUSANDS of bureaucrats are facing termination
Great work, Schumer! pic.twitter.com/cOtmRu1CnL
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) October 1, 2025
OMB Director Russ Vought has been unleashed on the federal bureaucracy during the shutdown:
“Russ Vought is working diligently…we’re looking across the board at layoffs and agencies we feel don’t serve the American taxpayer.”
Now is the time. pic.twitter.com/L4nPd9gF28
— Andrew Kolvet (@AndrewKolvet) October 2, 2025
There already has been confirmation that the president could use the time during a shutdown to make changes in government that can be “irreversible.”
A report at Fox News said Trump charged, “I can’t believe the Radical Left Democrats gave me this unprecedented opportunity. They are not stupid people, so maybe this is their way of wanting to, quietly and quickly, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
Trump has underscored, the report said, that “he and his allies did not want the government to shut down, but that it opened the door for some ‘good’ that could come from it.”
Leavitt explained, “To put this all into perspective, the Democrats refused to keep the government open over healthcare to illegal aliens and now have jeopardized critical health care programs for American citizens. Instead, the women, infants and children program, community health center funding, Medicare treatment options and other health programs are now all at risk because of the Democrats rejecting the clean C.R. [continuing resolution].”
