US Government Shutdown: Trump sees chance to ‘clear out dead wood, waste, and fraud,’ workers may lose $400mn daily
Donald Trump is leveraging the US government shutdown for political advantage, aiming for significant federal workforce changes and infrastructure funding freezes, particularly targeting areas with Democratic support.
Terming the fund lapse as "Democrat-forced closure", US President Donald Trump on Thursday urged Republicans to “use this opportunity to clear out fraud”.
With no easy endgame at hand, the standoff risks dragging deeper into October, when federal workers who remain on the job will begin missing paychecks. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has estimated roughly 750,000 federal workers would be furloughed on any given day during the shutdown, a loss of $400 million daily in wages, AP reported.
In a post on Truth Social, Donald Trump said, “Republicans must use this opportunity of Democrat forced closure to clear out dead wood, waste, and fraud. Billions of Dollars can be saved. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
Trump has framed the government shutdown as a political tool to pressure opponents and push for long-term changes to the federal workforce. Unlike past shutdowns, marked by temporary furloughs, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that mass layoffs were “imminent.”
The administration is also targeting infrastructure funding in Democratic strongholds.
The Office of Management and Budget announced a freeze of approximately $18 billion earmarked for New York's subway and Hudson Tunnel projects, key priorities in the home state of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
Trump has framed the shutdown as a chance to implement “irreversible” cuts to federal programmes favoured by Democrats, signalling a combative approach that blends budget brinkmanship with broader political and structural ambitions.
Furlough plans for several federal agencies, which have disclosed their contingencies in response to a lapse in congressional funding:
Trump and the congressional leaders are not expected to meet again soon. Congress has no action scheduled on Thursday in observance of the Jewish holy day, Yom Kippur, with senators due back Friday. The House is set to resume session next week.
Democrats are holding firm on their demands to preserve health care funding and refusing to back a bill that fails to do so, warning of price spikes for millions of Americans nationwide.
Republicans have opened a door to negotiating the health care issue, but GOP leaders say it can wait since the subsidies that help people purchase private insurance do not expire until the year's end.
Why This US Government Shutdown Is More Dangerous Than Ever Before?
“We're willing to have a conversation about ensuring that Americans continue to have access to health care,” US Vice President JD Vance said Wednesday at the White House.
With Congress girdlocked, the Trump administration is leveraging new budgetary tools to reshape federal operations.
Funds from what's commonly called the “One Big Beautiful Bill”, which was signed into law this summer, may be used to pay workers at the Department of Defence and Homeland Security, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).
Recent US government shutdowns
In recent years, US government shutdowns have been driven by intense political standoffs over major policy issues.
In 2013, Senator Ted Cruz and House Republicans triggered a 16-day shutdown in an attempt to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare. The effort ultimately failed, as bipartisan negotiations in the Senate ended the impasse without any significant concessions on health care.
In January 2018, Democrats led by Senator Chuck Schumer forced a three-day shutdown, demanding that protections for young undocumented immigrants, known as “Dreamers,” be included in the budget deal. The shutdown ended after then-Majority Leader Mitch McConnell agreed to hold a vote on the issue.
Later that same year, Trump initiated a record-breaking 35-day shutdown over his demand for funding to build a US-Mexico border wall.
Mounting delays at airports and the hardships faced by unpaid federal workers eventually pressured Trump to reopen the government without securing the wall funding he had insisted upon.
(With inputs from agencies)
- Trump frames the government shutdown as a chance for significant federal cuts.
- The shutdown targets key Democratic infrastructure projects, indicating a strategic political maneuver.
- Current negotiations highlight the ongoing standoff between Democrats and Republicans over health care and funding.