President Donald Trump threatened mass firings of federal workers as the U.S. hurtles toward a shutdown with Democrats and Republicans at an impasse over funding the government.
"We may do a lot and that’s only because of the Democrats,” Trump said in response to a question about the number of government employees who could be dismissed during a shutdown. The White House last week directed agencies to draw up plans for widespread firings if the government closed down. So far, no agencies have explicitly called for terminations in their shutdown plans.
With just hours to go until a midnight deadline, the deadlock over spending threatens to paralyze many U.S. government operations for the first time in nearly seven years, causing the suspension of services for Americans and paychecks for federal workers. As many as 750,000 federal workers could be temporarily furloughed, even if Trump doesn’t proceed with permanent dismissals, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated.
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