Government shutdown continues as White House weighs "thousands" of layoffs

President Trump posted a series of videos and memes on Truth Social seemingly aimed at trolling congressional Democrats, including one that called Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought — whose office is weighing federal funding cuts and layoffs — "the reaper."

"Russ Vought is the reaper / he wields the pen, the funds and the brain," an unnamed person sings in the video, to the tune of Blue Öyster Cult's "(Don't Fear) The Reaper."

The animated video depicts Vought as a scythe-wielding Grim Reaper, with Vice President JD Vance on the drums and a hooded Mr. Trump playing a cowbell. It calls Democrats "babies" and mocks lawmakers like House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. 

Steve Schenck, manager for Blue Öyster Cult, told CBS News in a statement that the band had not been contacted about the use of its music in the video. He didn't offer any further reaction.

Mr. Trump also shared a social media post that said: "All eyes are on Russ Vought today."

Mr. Trump posted earlier Thursday that he met with Vought to "determine which of the many Democrat Agencies, most of which are a political SCAM, he recommends to be cut, and whether or not those cuts will be temporary or permanent."

The Office of Management and Budget also told federal agencies last week to consider layoffs in the event of a government shutdown, and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday the cuts could number in the thousands. That's unusual since federal workers are usually either sent home or told to work without pay during shutdowns, and aren't permanently laid off.

President Trump said in an interview with One America News his administration may cut federal workers and programs favored by Democrats during the government shutdown.

"There could be firings, and that's their fault," the president said, likely referring to Democrats.

"It could also be other things. I mean, we could cut projects that they wanted, favored projects, and they'd be permanently cut," Mr. Trump said. "I'm allowed to cut things that should've never been approved in the first place, and I will probably do that."

Last week, the White House Office of Management and Budget told federal agencies to consider layoffs, or reductions-in-force, if the government shuts down — an unusual move since government workers are usually sent home without pay during a shutdown, rather than laid off permanently.

Democratic Sen. Peter Welch of Vermont said his colleague, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, had "a point" in explaining why she flipped her vote to support the Republican bill to fund the government. 

Cortez Masto was one of three Democratic senators to break with her party to support the bill during votes earlier this week. 

She explained that she did so because shutting down the government to solve the dispute over Affordable Care Act tax credits would hurt Nevada families. 

In an interview with CBS News chief Washington correspondent Major Garrett, Welch said he agrees with Cortez Masto's concerns, but he's choosing to oppose the measure because "it's about the only leverage we have" to protect health care. 

"Do we want to appease Trump?" Welch said, adding that "there's no end to what he'll demand." 

Some Department of Education employees who were furloughed this week have found that their automatic out-of-office email responses were changed to include partisan talking points blaming Democrats for the shutdown, according to two employees who spoke with CBS News anonymously and shared copies of their out-of-office emails. 

The employees' messages now read: "Thank you for contacting me. On September 19, 2025, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 5371, a clean continuing resolution. Unfortunately, Democrat Senators are blocking passage of H.R. 5371 in the Senate which has led to a lapse in appropriations. Due to the lapse in appropriations I am currently in furlough status. I will respond to emails once government functions resume."

NBC News first reported the change in out-of-office replies.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a New York Democrat, said "public sentiment" will force President Trump and Republicans to come to the table and negotiate on ending the shutdown. 

"At the end of the day, the public knows that Donald Trump and Republicans have shut the federal government down and that they're continuing to engage in the chaos and the cruelty and the corruption that we've seen from this administration," Jeffries told reporters outside the Capitol. 

Jeffries said it was hypocritical of Republicans to enact tax cuts that favored the wealthy earlier this year in Mr. Trump's "big, beautiful bill," while refusing to negotiate on an extension of Affordable Care Act tax credits that expire at the end of the year. 

The Senate adjourned without holding votes in recognition of the Yom Kippur holiday. The chamber will reconvene at 11:30 a.m. Friday and plans to vote again on the GOP and Democratic bills to extend government funding, which have so far failed.

The shutdown has renewed the push from lawmakers to withhold the paychecks of members of Congress while many operations of the government are suspended. 

Federal employees will not receive paychecks during the shutdown, even if they are considered essential and still working. Both essential employees and furloughed workers will receive backpay once Congress has approved new funding. 

Lawmakers, however, consider drawing a paycheck because of how their pay is treated under the Constitution and federal law. Their salaries are funded by permanent appropriations, meaning they don't need to be renewed annually. The Constitution also obligates the Treasury to pay lawmakers and says laws changing their compensation can't take effect until after the next election. 

Rep. Ralph Norman, a South Carolina Republican, reintroduced a constitutional amendment this week that would bar lawmakers from receiving any compensation during a shutdown, while also preventing them from receiving backpay. 

"Members of Congress have a constitutional duty to fund the government's essential functions," Norman said in a statement. "If Congress fails to meet that obligation, we should not expect taxpayers to continue paying us for inaction." 

A bill introduced in the Senate earlier this year by Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida would also withhold lawmakers' salaries and backpay in the event of a shutdown. 

Republican Sen. Jon Husted of Ohio, who joined the legislation this week, said lawmakers shouldn't be paid if they "can't accomplish [their] most basic responsibility of funding the government." 

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a New York Democrat, was asked Wednesday about lawmakers trying to forgo their pay during the shutdown. 

He told reporters he anticipates the shutdown will be resolved "well in advance of our next paycheck." 

"Members of Congress are paid on a monthly basis," Jeffries said. 

Republican Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota predicted that government funding "has to be done by tomorrow, or things go south real quick." 

"Tomorrow's vote is a crucial vote," he said. Rounds was involved in a large bipartisan huddle on the Senate floor on Wednesday in which senators discussed potential scenarios for ending the funding lapse.

Rounds made his latest comments to reporters after meeting with Thune. He said Republicans are trying to convey to Democrats "how serious" the shutdown is. The sooner the Senate approves funding, the sooner the government can reopen and the Senate can return to negotiating in regular order, he said. 

Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters Thursday that it's "unlikely" the Senate will be in session this weekend, pushing a shutdown into next week if the Senate doesn't approve a funding measure during its Friday session.

The Senate is next expected to vote on competing GOP and Democratic funding measures on Friday, after they failed to earn enough support a third time on Wednesday. Thune, a South Dakota Republican, said if Friday's vote on the House-passed bill doesn't earn enough support from Democrats, then "we'll give them the weekend to think about it, we'll come back and we'll vote again on Monday."

Thune also spoke of bipartisan floor discussions about a potential short-term deal on Wednesday, telling reporters he's read-in and understands what's being discussed. He said he's "glad that people are talking," and said he's in regular conversation with the White House about what Democrats are floating.

"I think there are a lot of Democrats who want out of this, you know, rat hole that Schumer's led them down," Thune said. "So I'm hoping that perhaps that leads somewhere. But it all starts with, as I've said before, reopening the government, and I think that's got to happen first."

Thune reiterated that the path forward is through the House-passed continuing resolution to give lawmakers more time to finish appropriations work and continue discussions on Democrats' effort to extend a health insurance tax credit that's set to expire at year's end. Thune said the tax credits program "is desperately needing reform," calling it "rife with waste, fraud and abuse." He added, "there's no way that you can do a straight-up extension."

Speaking on the Senate floor, Majority Leader John Thune once again urged his Democratic colleagues to back the House-passed continuing resolution.

"Mr. President, so far, three of our Democrat colleagues have joined Republicans to attempt to reopen the government. If we can just find a few more Democrats to join us, we can end this shutdown and get back to bipartisan appropriations work and the business of the American people," Thune said to a mostly empty Senate chamber. "Democrats voted for clean CRs like the one before us 13 times, 13 times during the Biden administration. I hope they'll join us to pass this clean CR and reopen the government for hardworking Americans."

The Senate is not holding votes on Thursday but will take up the competing funding bills again on Friday afternoon.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt spoke to reporters outside the West Wing and said upcoming layoffs of federal workers are "likely going to be in the thousands."

"That's something that the Office of Management and Budget and the entire team at the White House here, again, is unfortunately having to work on today," Leavitt said. "These discussions and these conversations, these meetings, would not be happening if the Democrats had voted to keep the government open."

The fight over funding the government is likely to be a costly one. 

Each week of the ongoing government shutdown could cost the economy $7 billion and reduce GDP growth by 0.1 percentage points, according to an estimate published by EY-Parthenon chief economist Gregory Daco. That cost is a function of reduced pay for federal employees, delayed government procurement of goods and a decline in demand. 

To some extent, a portion of that economic cost would be reversed when the government reopens, as furloughed employees receive back pay and economic activity increases, the analysis said. 

It's likely that not everything would be reversible, though. The last shutdown — which was during President Trump's first term and lasted 34 days, beginning in December 2018 and ending in January 2019 — cost the U.S. economy about $11 billion, according to the Congressional Budget Office. 

During that shutdown, the longest on record, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that real gross domestic product in the fourth quarter of 2018 took a $3 billion hit (in 2019 dollars). And it estimated that in the first quarter of 2019, real GDP was "$8 billion lower than it would have been — an effect reflecting both the five-week partial shutdown and the resumption in economic activity once funding resumed."

Read more here.

Asked by CBS News whether he thinks senators need to stay through the weekend to vote on a funding measure, House Speaker Mike Johnson said "of course they do."

Senators are expected to go home for the weekend if Friday's vote on the House-passed funding measure fails, two sources told CBS News, though the schedule remains fluid. The House has been away from Washington on recess all week.

"The House is coming back next week, hoping that they will be sending us something to work on," Johnson said. "They're anxious to come back."

Kaia Hubbard and Nikole Killion

One of the main lines of attack the White House and Republican lawmakers have leveled against Democrats amid the government shutdown is the claim that Democratic lawmakers want to give immigrants in the U.S. illegally free health care, which Democrats deny. 

A provision in the Democrats' funding proposal would reverse the One Big Beautiful Bill Act's measures narrowing Medicaid eligibility for noncitizens. The changes sought by Democrats would only extend Medicaid coverage to immigrants with some kind of legal status or government protection.

Before the bill passed earlier this year, U.S. law allowed several classes of immigrants living in the U.S. legally or with the government's permission to apply for and get Medicaid, if they met other requirements.

Those groups included lawful permanent residents (also known as green card holders), Cubans and Haitians who entered the U.S. legally, people granted a humanitarian benefit known as "parole" to enter the country, refugees, immigrants who won asylum and others, including those who were issued deportation reprieves by a judge.

Some people in those groups may have crossed into the U.S. illegally but were later granted legal status, like asylum, or deportation deferrals by immigration judges.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act significantly restricted noncitizen eligibility for Medicaid coverage, making it only accessible to lawful permanent residents, Cubans and Haitians who entered the U.S. legally and noncitizens from several Pacific islands. 

The bill excluded those granted parole to enter the U.S., refugees, asylees and the other previously eligible immigrants. Roughly 1.4 million immigrants could lose health insurance coverage under the bill's provisions, according to a KFF analysis of Congressional Budget Office data.

The Democrats' funding proposal would restore noncitizen eligibility for Medicaid to the longstanding pre-2025 rules, reopening access for the classes of immigrants who were carved out earlier this year. All of those immigrants are in the U.S. either legally or with the government's permission. 

Read more about the facts behind the debate here.

House Speaker Mike Johnson railed against Democrats for what he called a "selfish" and "reprehensible" position on Thursday morning, marking day two of the shutdown with a news conference outside his office at the Capitol alongside House GOP leaders.

"Real pain is being afflicted upon the American people because 44 Democrats in the Senate have voted for the third time to reject the completely nonpartisan, completely clean, very simple, 24-page continuing resolution that we passed in the House here two weeks ago," Johnson said. 

Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, said House Republicans did the "logical, simple, good-faith thing" by passing a clean continuing resolution to keep the government open, while criticizing the Democrats' proposal to fund the government. 

"Instead of the clean CR that keeps the government open for seven more weeks to allow us to finish the work, they proposed a wild list of partisan priorities," Johnson said, citing provisions to rollback cuts to funding for public broadcasting and provisions within the president's One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

The speaker also criticized Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, for doing a "180 degree turn" on government funding, accusing him of trying to avoid a challenge from the left in his next reelection campaign. And he argued Democrats would rather shutter "vital services" than "do the right thing," accusing them of doing it for "partisan, political purposes."

"It is selfish, it is reprehensible and it is exactly the opposite of what they have all said themselves in their own words, very passionately, every day until now," Johnson said. 

Johnson said "don't ask the Republicans what we should be doing or what we should be negotiating."
"I don't have anything to negotiate," he said. 

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent blamed Democrats for shutting down the government on Thursday morning, saying on CNBC's "Squawk Box" that "this is a choice that Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries have made, and if they want to shut the government down, then there are ramifications."

Asked whether President Trump and OMB Director Russ Vought are looking to use the shutdown as an opportunity to shrink the size of the federal government, Bessent said "what they want is what's good for the American people and what's good for the country," pointing to the House-passed continuing resolution. 

"The Democrats want to negotiate like terrorists," Bessent said. "They want to say, 'This is what we have to have, and if we don't get it, we're going to close down the government.'"

The treasury secretary said what the White House and GOP leaders want is for Democrats to "show a little leadership."

"I don't think it's unreasonable for the president to use all the levers," Bessent said.

Pressed on the question of layoffs and furloughs, and whether they would happen regardless of the government being shut down as Democrats have claimed, Bessent said "it's a talking point."

"Sen. Schumer, Rep. Jeffries, they're weak, they're discombobulated," Bessent said. "They don't represent the American people. And, you know, they're making up excuses."

Bessent added, "we'll see," saying "I think that this is an opportunity."

"They're using this opportunity," he said. "President Trump in the first nine months now has been unstoppable. They've tried to stop him in the courts, they've tried to stop him in the press and now they're trying to stop him with a shutdown."

Bessent also warned that the U.S. GDP could be impacted by the shutdown: "We could see a hit to the GDP, a hit to growth and a hit to working Americans."

Mr. Trump said he is meeting with Vought, the head of the Office of Management and Budget, to discuss possible cuts at federal agencies.

"I have a meeting today with Russ Vought, he of PROJECT 2025 Fame, to determine which of the many Democrat Agencies, most of which are a political SCAM, he recommends to be cut, and whether or not those cuts will be temporary or permanent," the president wrote on Truth Social. "I can't believe the Radical Left Democrats gave me this unprecedented opportunity. They are not stupid people, so maybe this is their way of wanting to, quietly and quickly, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!"

The White House told agencies last week to prepare plans for reductions-in-force, or layoffs, in the event of a government shutdown. Vought met with GOP lawmakers on Capitol Hill on Wednesday and told them that layoffs could begin in the coming days.

Project 2025 is the sprawling policy agenda crafted in the lead-up to the 2024 election. Mr. Trump had distanced himself from the multi-pronged initiative during the campaign as some of its policy proposals came under scrutiny.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries called the AI-generated video posted by President Trump that featured Jeffries wearing a sombrero and donning a mustache "bigoted." House Speaker Mike Johnson said Thursday that the Democratic leader needs to "lighten up."

"Hakeem is my friend, we have a great relationship of trust," Johnson told "CBS Mornings." "He's a great colleague. I think he has to lighten up when you show that you're upset. I get attacked in memes every single hour of every day. I don't react to it. That's what people are trying to get out of you." 

Johnson said Mr. Trump was "making a joke," and that Democrats are "acting as if the issue of the day is a battle over memes on social media." 

Johnson said that amid the shutdown battle, "we should not be talking about sombreros on the internet. We should be talking about the American people's needs." 

Mr. Trump has continued to post the memes despite Jeffries' criticism. 

House Speaker Mike Johnson told "CBS Mornings" on Thursday that Republicans and Democrats are not currently engaged in negotiations to end the government shutdown.

"There's no negotiation right now because the Democrats have dug in," he told "CBS Mornings."

Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, said that his GOP colleagues are urging their Democratic counterparts to approve a clean extension of government spending levels, which would allow negotiators more time to work on appropriations measures.

"All we're asking is that Senate Democrats do what they have always done in the past, every single time and allow the additional clock," he said.

Johnson said he was not aware of any details about impending mass layoffs of federal employees, including which agencies would see their workforces shrink and by how much. Russ Vought, the lead of the Office of Management and Budget, told GOP lawmakers Wednesday that reductions in force, or layoffs, could begin in the coming days.

"What was communicated to us is that they're trying to mitigate the damage," he said. "The president and Republicans in Congress do not want a government shutdown. We are bending over backward to prevent it because real people get hurt." 

Johnson criticized Democrats for focusing on extending enhanced premium tax credits for Americans enrolled in health insurance under the Affordable Care Act since they don't expire until the end of December.

"This is an absolute 100% red herring," he said, adding that there are still three months left for Congress to reach a solution to address the expiring enhanced subsidies.

Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts outlined her party's fight for health care amid the shutdown on Thursday, telling "CBS Mornings" that after months of asking Republicans to negotiate, "Democrats are fighting to try to keep those health care costs down and roll back the Republican cuts."

"We're ready to negotiate. We have had now three months, we've been begging the Republicans to come to the table and negotiate," she said. "The Republicans are saying they won't negotiate when there's not a shutdown, they won't negotiate when there is a shutdown. So far, they won't negotiate at all."

Asked about concerns from some Democrats that a shutdown gives more power to the Trump administration, Warren said President Trump is "going to do whatever he wants to do," while accusing OMB Director Russ Vought of  "trying to make as many painful cuts as he can."

"Donald Trump says he doesn't care," Warren said. "He just wants to impose pain on Americans because he thinks that Democrats actually care and that Democrats will be forced to back down."

Senate GOP leadership plans to continue teeing up votes on a House-passed bill that would fund the government until Nov. 21. But the next vote will not come until Friday, as senators observe Yom Kippur on Thursday. 

Competing measures to fund the government failed again in the Senate on Wednesday, the third time the two sides had been unable to reach agreement since an initial vote on Sept. 19. The Democratic proposal would fund the government until Oct. 31 and extend health insurance tax credits that Democrats have made a top priority. No Republicans have supported the measure. 

Meanwhile, Senate Republicans are seeking to peel off some Democrats  to support their proposal, which passed the House last month. On Tuesday, the measure picked up support from a Democrat and an independent, in addition to a Democrat who had previously backed it, but when the chamber voted again Wednesday, the outcome remained unchanged at 55-45. 

With 53 Republicans in the Senate, and a 60-vote threshold to advance most legislation, support from Democrats is needed to fund the government. 

President Trump wrote on Truth Social late Wednesday: "Republicans must use this opportunity of Democrat forced closure to clear out dead wood, waste, and fraud. Billions of Dollars can be saved."

Trump administration officials have signaled in recent days that they may use the shutdown to lay off federal workers or — in the president's words — "get rid of" Democratic policies.

Last week, the White House Office of Management and Budget told federal agencies to consider layoffs if the government shuts down — an unusual step since the government typically only sends workers home temporarily during lapses in funding. On Wednesday, after the shutdown began, Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought told House Republicans on a private call this afternoon that reductions-in-force, or layoffs, will begin within two days, according to two sources familiar with the call.

"When you shut it down, you have to do layoffs," the president told CBS News senior White House correspondent Weijia Jiang on Tuesday, hours before the shutdown started.