‘A lot’ of workers could be fired if the US government shuts down, Trump says

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President Donald Trump has said his administration may fire “a lot” of federal workers if the US government shuts down this week, raising the stakes as lawmakers appeared unable to break an impasse over funding.

The federal government is set to shut down at 12:01am on Wednesday, unless Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill can come to an agreement to keep the government funded.

“Nothing is inevitable, but I would say it’s probably likely,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday afternoon when asked about the possible shutdown.

Previous shutdowns have led to the furloughing of hundreds of thousands of federal workers. But the White House has suggested in recent days that a future government closure could provide an opening for federal departments and agencies to permanently fire staff deemed “non-essential”.

Speaking to reporters at the White House earlier on Tuesday, Trump was asked how many federal workers his administration planned to lay off. The president replied: “We may do a lot, and that’s only because of the Democrats.”

With just hours to go until a shutdown is set to go into effect, Republican and Democratic leaders have traded blame about who is responsible for the gridlock.

Republican lawmakers have called for a short-term agreement, or a continuing resolution, that would keep the government funded at current levels until November 21.

Democrats have refused to endorse the Republican resolution, arguing any agreement needs to include an extension to health insurance subsidies that are due to expire at the end of the year.

The most recent government shutdown took place during the first Trump administration, lasting more than a month and resulting in the furlough of about 800,000 workers.

The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office on Tuesday said it expected that about 750,000 workers could be furloughed this time, at a cost of roughly $400mn per day.

The CBO estimated the last shutdown reduced economic output by $11bn, including $3bn that was never regained.

But the CBO said the effects of another shutdown on business activity were “uncertain,” adding: “Their magnitude would depend on the duration of a shutdown and on decisions made by the administration.”

Lawmakers have appeared on the brink of a shutdown several times in recent years but have struck last-minute agreements to keep the government funded.

However, hopes of an eleventh-hour deal faded late on Monday after vice-president JD Vance emerged from an Oval Office meeting with Trump and congressional leaders and warned the government was “headed to a shutdown”.

Later, Trump posted an AI-generated video to his Truth Social platform that mocked the Democrats’ Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer and House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries.

Schumer responded to the video on X, saying: “If you think your shutdown is a joke, it just proves what we all know: You can’t negotiate. You can only throw tantrums.”

Mike Johnson, the Republican Speaker of the House, told CNBC on Tuesday morning that Schumer was “not being honest” and was threatening a shutdown for political gain. Schumer leader has come under pressure from Democrats to be more aggressive in his opposition to Trump.

“Their position right now is pure politics. They’re doing this for Chuck Schumer’s backside, not for the American people,” Johnson said. “They are willing to inflict pain to do that.”