Thune says mass shutdown firings don't "have to happen"
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Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) speaks to the media following a Senate policy luncheon at the U.S. Capitol on September 9. Photo: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said that the White House's threatened firings if a government shutdown proceeds don't "have to happen" if Democrats sign onto a GOP plan to keep the government open.
The big picture: Still, Democrats, including Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), don't seem to be budging and are largely dismissing the Trump administration's warning to prepare for mass shakeups to an already unrecognizable federal workforce.
Driving the news: "They're playing with fire, and they know it," the Republican leader said on NBC News' "Meet the Press."
- He did not directly answer whether he supported mass firings of federal employees if the government shuts down, but said, "it doesn't have to happen."
- He continued, "I'm very comfortable with the position that we have. It's to fund the government, finish the appropriations process, deal with the issues the Democrats want to deal with after we keep the government open."
Yes, but: Schumer, also appearing on NBC, shrugged off the threat of shedding more workers, saying, "They're doing it anyway."
- He continued, "There's no shutdown, they're laying off all these people."
- By the end of the year, some 300,000 federal workers will have left their posts, either through voluntary or forced departures, Office of Personnel Management Director Scott Kupor predicted to multiple outlets last month.
Catch up quick: And under a shutdown, that number could expand.
- In a recent memo reviewed by Axios, Russ Vought, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, instructed agencies to send Reduction in Force (RIF) notices for employees in programs that are "not consistent with the President's priorities."
- The memo marked a significant escalation over the impending shutdown, as each side argues the other bears the blame of a funding lapse.
Zoom out: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) echoed Schumer's sentiment on ABC's "This Week," saying, "We've seen since January 20th mass firings already taking place by the Trump administration in the absence of [a] government shutdown."
- He called for a bipartisan path forward that includes a spending agreement and a solution to what he described as the "Republican health care crisis" as Democrats push for an extension of Affordable Care Act tax credits.
- House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), asked by ABC's Martha Raddatz if he backed the proposed workforce reductions, said he hadn't seen "the full details" but pointed to the familiar refrain of what Trump's allies have framed as "waste, fraud and abuse" in the bureaucracy.
The bottom line: President Trump is set to meet Monday with congressional leaders as a funding deadline inches closer — and as the partisan aisle appears increasingly wide.
- If the administration uses a potential shutdown as an opportunity to further chip away at the federal workforce, the impact of a closure could echo long past a short-term spending lapse.
Go deeper: D.C. region faces its most devastating government shutdown yet
