Trump Sees ‘Unprecedented Opportunity’ to Slash Federal Agencies

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Michael Rainey

Good evening. The government shutdown entered its second day today. Here's your fiscal update.

Trump Sees 'Unprecedented Opportunity' to Slash Federal Agencies

With the Senate largely idle in observance of the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, no votes on funding the government were held Thursday. The Senate is scheduled to return Friday for its fourth vote on a pair of short-term funding bills, but the vote is expected to fail.

Majority Leader John Thune said it is "unlikely" that the Senate will hold votes this weekend. "They'll have a fourth chance tomorrow to vote to keep - to open up the government," Thune told reporters. "And if that fails, then they can have the weekend to think about it, we'll come back, we'll vote again on Monday."

Thune added that he is open to meeting with Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, though it depends on what's on the agenda.

"We'll see," Thune said. "If the meeting is focused around just a, you know, a photo op along the lines of what they tried to get out of the White House, I'm not sure there's a lot of purpose in that. But if they want to actually come forward and talk about how to, how to end this thing, yeah, we'll see."

White House warns on firings: White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday that the number of firings during the shutdown could be significant. "It's likely going to be in the thousands," she told a reporter who asked for an estimate, adding, "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."

Trump said on social media that he planned to meet with Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought to "determine which of the many Democrat Agencies" will be cut and whether the cuts are "temporary or permanent."

Leavitt said that while no plan has been finalized, the White House is "looking at agencies that don't align with the president's values" and "that we feel are a waste of the taxpayer dollar."

In his social media post, Trump needled Democrats for making it easier for him to slash federal agencies, as Vought has long wanted to do. "I can't believe the Radical Left Democrats gave me this unprecedented opportunity," he wrote.

Trump had previously distanced himself from Vought's affiliation with Project 2025, the controversial right-wing blueprint for governance from the Heritage Foundation that called for massive reductions in the federal government. But on Thursday, he seemed to celebrate it, referring to Vought as "he of PROJECT 2025 Fame."

Thune also chided Democrats for opening the door to Vought's increased involvement. "This is the risk of shutting down the government and handing the keys to Russ Vought," Thune told Politico, adding, "we don't control what he's going to do."

Flash Poll: Americans Blame Republicans Most

A flash poll of 1,010 American adults conducted by The Washington Post on Wednesday found that nearly half are blaming President Donald Trump and the Republicans in Congress for the government shutdown.

Asked "Who do you think is mainly responsible for the federal government partially shutting down?" 47% of respondents said they blame Republicans, while 30% blamed Democrats and 23% said they weren't sure.

Not surprisingly, the results varied sharply by party affiliation. Sixty-seven percent of Republicans said they blame Democrats for the shutdown, and a whopping 87% of Democrats blamed Trump and Republicans. Independents reflected the overall results, with 50% blaming Republicans and 22% blaming Democrats and 29% saying they're not sure.

In what will likely be welcome news for Democrats, poll respondents showed a clear preference on the issue Democrats are citing as the cause of the shutdown - the looming expiration of enhanced subsidies for Affordable Care Act health plans. Asked what should happen to the subsidies, 71% said they should be extended, as Democrats are demanding, while just 29% said the subsidies should be allowed to expire as scheduled at the end of the year.

Quote of the Day: Full of Beans

"That sounds like malarkey. Come on, man."

  • CNBC's Joe Kernen, responding to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent Thursday morning. The pair were discussing the suffering of American soybean farmers, who have lost their largest customer, China, as a result of the tariff wars sparked by President Trump's aggressive trade policy.

Saying he expects the White House to announce a billion-dollar aid package for farmers early next week, Bessent attempted to lay the blame for their plight on the previous administration. "The Chinese followed through [on agricultural purchases] during President Trump's term in 2020," Bessent said. "And then, under President Biden, their feet were not held to the fire for these ag purchases."

Bessent said he discussed the issue with a Chinese trade official: "When I asked him, 'Why didn't you continue buying soybeans and the other products?' they had one word. Guess what it was. 'Biden'" - inspiring Kernen's Bidenesque response.

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