Trump Uses Government Shutdown to Target Democrat Programs
The ongoing government shutdown is giving President Donald Trump a historic opportunity to permanently eliminate several Democratic-backed programs, with many unlikely to return.
The White House plans to release a comprehensive list of targeted initiatives on Friday, which Trump described as “socialist” programs opposed by his administration.
Trump told reporters that the shutdown provides leverage against Democratic priorities.
“The Democrats are getting killed on the shutdown because we’re closing up programs that are Democrat programs that we were opposed to,” he said. “And they’re never going to come back, in many cases. So we’re able to do things that we were unable to do before.”
The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has already acted on several fronts.
Earlier this month, the agency canceled $8 billion in green energy funding across 16 states represented by Democratic senators.
Infrastructure projects in New York and Chicago have been paused for review, though the funds have not yet been fully canceled, according to the Washington Times.
Trump signaled that further program cuts are coming.
“We’re going to have a list of them on Friday, closing up some of the most egregious socialist, semi-communist—probably not full communist, we’re saving that for New York, but semi-communist programs—and we’re closing them up,” he said. “We’re not closing up Republican programs because we think they work.”
TTOA previously reported that the administration scaled back operations by laying off federal employees who staff these programs.
Last week’s reductions affected roughly 4,000 workers across multiple agencies, representing one of the largest workforce reductions in recent memory.
Specific targets included staff at the Education Department handling special education and multiple CDC offices, including violence prevention programs.
These actions reflect the administration’s broader strategy to reduce non-essential operations while the shutdown persists.
As of Wednesday, the federal government has been shut down for 14 days, following a lapse in funding that began on Oct. 1.
Reuters reports that 4,108 employees have been laid off. Essential services such as Medicare, Medicaid, and the Transportation Security Administration continue to operate, but many programs—including parts of the CDC and NIH—have been partially or fully suspended.
OMB warned that further layoffs are planned.
A social media post instructed, “Pay the troops, pay law enforcement, continue the RIFs, and wait,” framing the reductions as necessary amid Democratic obstruction.
The layoffs have drawn immediate criticism.
Members of the Maryland and Virginia congressional delegations held a press conference outside OMB offices.
Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D) called claims that the shutdown forced the layoffs “a big lie” and condemned the administration’s actions.
Van Hollen added that the layoffs may be illegal and pledged legal action.
Democracy Forward, a left-leaning nonprofit providing free legal representation, has challenged the reductions in court, with an emergency hearing scheduled Wednesday.
Rob Shriver, managing director of Democracy Forward’s civil service initiative, said, “We are going to fight these illegal layoffs, to hold this administration accountable to the law and to make sure that whatever federal workers do once the government is again funded, there are people who have their backs.”
As the shutdown continues, the Trump administration appears determined to reshape federal spending, targeting Democratic programs while maintaining support for initiatives favored by Republicans.
Critics argue the approach disrupts essential government functions, while supporters call it a historic opportunity to cut inefficient or ideologically driven spending.
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