Four short words from OMB Director Russ Vought — "The RIFs have begun" — marked the first serious escalation in the shutdown staredown.

Why it matters: Operation mass layoffs may have launched, but it hasn't triggered eleventh-hour negotiations.

• Democrats blasted Vought's reductions-in-force plan but are banking on the courts to stop the move.
• Republicans, mostly, shrugged.

What they're saying: "The way we reopen government is compromise ... and no amount of threats will change that," said Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), the ranking member on the Senate Appropriations Committee.

• "No one is making Trump and Vought hurt American workers — they just want to," she said.
• "This is a disaster for Virginia, intentionally inflicted by President Trump and his Republican allies," said Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.). "These firings are also already being fought in court."
• "Regardless of whether federal employees have been working without pay or have been furloughed, their work is incredibly important to serving the public," said Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine), who called the layoffs "arbitrary" and said she "strongly" opposes them.

The other side: Before Vought's announcement, Republicans hinted the pain of a shutdown would only be compounded.

• "Every day that it goes by, it gets a lot worse for the American people," Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters this morning.
• Americans are going to "feel a lot more pain and miss a lot more paychecks in the very near future."
• "We just needed five more votes — five more Democrat votes — that the Democrats wouldn't give us yesterday."

Zoom out: The shutdown has gotten real for federal workers — and is coming for military personnel — but Congress isn't feeling this government shutdown.

• It's mostly business as usual at the Capitol, at least for the nonpublic.
• Cafeterias are open, trash is being picked up and parking lots are open. In the Senate, destination fundraisers in exotic locations still have the green light.
• The 2013 shutdown, when long security lines and shuttered cafes brought the shutdown home, is a distant memory.

The bottom line: Senate staffers will miss their first paycheck on Oct. 20. In the House, it will be at the end of the month.

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— Hans Nichols

House Speaker Mike Johnson said today that more rescissions will be coming "in the days ahead."

• "We worked on rescissions, and there'll be more of that, we expect," Johnson said during a rare joint press call with the House Freedom Caucus.

Why it matters: A fresh effort to claw back, or rescind, congressionally approved spending could threaten the little progress made toward reopening the government.

• "A rescissions package is part of our process. I know the Democrats hate to cut spending in any way, in any form," the speaker told reporters after the call.

The bottom line: While health care has been the key demand for Democrats in the shutdown fight, they also want assurances the White House will spend the money lawmakers authorize.

• "Whatever final resolution we reach to reopen the government, in my view, has to include some protection and some understanding that the funds that we will appropriate will not then be taken back through rescissions," Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) told us in the Capitol on Wednesday.

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— Kate Santaliz

"Republicans in the House have decided to remain on vacation," House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters today.

• "They canceled votes last week, they canceled votes this week and now they've canceled votes next week. They're not serious about reopening the government," he said.

The big picture: Johnson announced today that votes planned between next Tuesday and Friday are being canceled.

• That means the House will not return to session until Oct. 20 at the earliest.

The bottom line: The House hasn't voted since Sept. 19, when it passed a spending stopgap that would have prevented the shutdown.

• "Hakeem Jeffries and the House Democrats ... are clamoring to get back here and have another vote, because some of them want to get on record and say they're for paying the troops. We already had that vote," Johnson said this week.

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— Andrew Solender