Washington: The US government shut down much of its operations this week for the first time in six years after the Senate failed to pass a stopgap funding bill, plunging the country into chaos. Tensions escalated further as President Donald Trump threatened new layoffs of federal employees.
Terming the fund lapse as "Democrat-forced closure", US President Donald Trump urged Republicans to “use this opportunity to clear out fraud”.
“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 wrote on Truth Social.
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.”
Leavitt, along with Vice President JD Vance, blamed Democrats for the shutdown, saying the opposition party has “put us into this position.”
“Democrats say that they care a lot about lowering health care costs. And yet, when the president took historic action to work with the drug companies to lower prescription drug prices, the Democrats did nothing to help us,” Vance told reporters at the White House.
In the prevailing situation, roughly 750,000 federal workers could be furloughed each day, at a daily wage cost of USD 400 million, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Essential staff, from FBI investigators and air traffic controllers to active-duty military, remain on the job without pay until the shutdown ends.
Economists say brief shutdowns have limited impact, since workers are guaranteed back pay under a 2019 law. But longer closures drag on the economy and fuel uncertainty.
