With thousands of jobs gone amid shutdown, defiant Democrats say won't be cowed by Trump: ‘You don’t stop by…’

As the Trump administration continues to lay off hundreds of federal employees amid a shutdown that has entered its third week, defiant Democrats have said that they would not be intimidated or cowed by President Donald Trump's tactics to pressure them by mass layoffs or by his threats of more firings to come.

Recently, the Trump administration had axed as many as or more than 4,200 federal workers, it said in a court filing. According to the reports, the mass layoffs in the federal government have affected seven agencies, including the Treasury Department, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of Education, the Justice Department court filing read.

Virginia Senator Tim Kaine said, “What people are saying is, you’ve got to stop the carnage. And you don’t stop it by giving in.” She said she spoke with people across her state.

Hawaii Senator Brian Schatz dismissed the firings as “mostly bluster”, predicting they would eventually be overturned in court or reversed by other means. On Wednesday, that process was already underway, as a federal judge in California temporarily blocked the administration from carrying out the layoffs.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said the layoffs are a “mistaken attempt” to sway Democratic votes. Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said the Trump administration’s “intimidation tactics are not working. And will continue to fail”.

Voters demand health insurance subsidies

Most Democrats have mentioned that the voters have demanded to know more about the health insurance subsidies that expire at the end of the year—an issue that has become the bone of contention between the Democrats and the Republicans.

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Senator Chris Coons of Delaware said that the impact of the expiring health insurance subsidies on millions of people, along with cuts to Medicaid enacted by Republicans earlier this year, “far outweighs” any of the firings of federal workers that the administration is threatening.

Republicans, too, are confident in their strategy of not negotiating on the health care subsidies until Democrats give them the votes to reopen the government. There were no signs of movement on either side.

“We’re barreling toward one of the longest shutdowns in American history,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said earlier this week.

Meanwhile, Senate Democrats are set to reject a stopgap spending bill for the 10th time, insisting they will not compromise on their push for Congress to address health care benefits

(With inputs from agencies)