Democrats demand restoration of hundreds of billions of dollars in healthcare spending, including enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies, for government funding support.
WASHINGTON—The White House’s budget office directed federal agencies to draw up plans to permanently reduce their workforces if there is a government shutdown next week, raising the specter of mass firings on top of the customary furloughs during a lapse in funding.
The new memo sent by Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought sharply raises the stakes for funding talks and increases the pressure on Senate Democrats, who are demanding that Republicans restore hundreds of billions of dollars in healthcare spending as a condition of their support for keeping the government funded.
If no bipartisan agreement is reached, the government would shut down at 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 1. Republicans are insisting that their seven-week stopgap spending plan funding the government through late November is the only one on the table, and there are no meetings planned between President Trump and Democrats before the month’s end.
The OMB memo instructs agencies to design reduction-in-force plans for employees who work for programs that have no current funding and have no outside funding source, and that are “not consistent with the President’s priorities.” This would be in addition to any temporary furloughs that happen during a government shutdown.
The memo from Vought says that any cuts made after the funding deadline would be permanent.
If Congress passes a short-term spending bill by the Sept. 30 deadline, “the additional steps outlined in this email will not be necessary,” the OMB memo states. The memo, which was sent to all government agencies, was earlier reported by Politico.
Democrats said they were unmoved by the new threat. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) said the OMB plan was an “attempt at intimidation” and questioned whether any firings would hold up in court. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D., N.Y.) called Vought a “malignant political hack” on X.
Democrats said they won’t support any measure that excludes an extension of enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies, which are set to expire at the end of the year. In their own rival plan, Democrats have also sought the reversal of hundreds of billions of dollars of Medicaid cuts enacted under the GOP’s tax-and-spending law, and the release of federal funds frozen by the White House.
Trump on Tuesday canceled a planned meeting with Democrats, saying they were making “unserious and ridiculous demands.” Jeffries and Schumer shot back that Trump and the GOP “continue to march this country toward a painful Republican shutdown, while exacerbating the healthcare crisis that they have unleashed.”
The Senate returns on Monday. GOP leaders have said they would only vote on the current Republican proposal, which extends current government funding levels for seven weeks. Leaders say that period would buy time to negotiate full-year appropriations bills. The proposal also includes security funding for lawmakers and federal officials sought by both parties after the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
The House narrowly passed the GOP proposal last week, but it isn’t scheduled to return until after Oct. 1—a move that works to limit Democrats’ options in altering the measure, because both chambers would need to approve any changes before sending it to Trump’s desk. While Republicans control both houses of Congress, they need Democratic help in the Senate because of the 60-vote threshold for most legislation.
Back in March, Schumer drew criticism from other Democrats after he and a small group of colleagues voted with Republicans to keep the government funded. He argued at the time that letting the government shut down would give broader powers to the White House and its Department of Government Efficiency effort to downsize agencies and fire workers. “A shutdown would allow DOGE to shift into overdrive,” he said at the time.
Write to Natalie Andrews at natalie.andrews@wsj.com
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Appeared in the September 25, 2025, print edition as 'Firings Are Threatened In Case of Shutdown'.
The White House budget office directed federal agencies to plan permanent workforce reductions if a government shutdown occurs next week.
The Office of Management and Budget memo instructs agencies to design reduction-in-force plans for programs lacking funding and not aligned with presidential priorities.