Top GOP leader bemoans Dems are ‘holding government funding hostage’
A high-ranking Republican is blaming Democrats over a looming government shutdown.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) penned an opinion piece for The Washington Post on Monday, claiming that leaders must avert a spending crisis with a bipartisan appropriations process and claiming "Democrats are holding government funding hostage to a long list of partisan demands, totaling more than $1 trillion. And they’re ready to shut down the government if Republicans don’t comply."
Thune was among a group of leaders slated to meet Monday with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office, which includes House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA).
This closed-door meeting is just hours before the Oct. 1 deadline. A White House official described this as a make-or-break moment. It's also the first time Trump will meet with the Democratic leaders since he took office eight months ago.
Thune argues that "Republicans are open to discussion and negotiation on a number of issues."
"But there’s a difference between careful discussion and negotiation during the appropriations process and taking government funding hostage to jam more than $1 trillion in big-government spending in a funding bill designed to last mere weeks," Thune writes. "Major decisions should not be made in haste. And they certainly shouldn’t be made because one party is threatening to shut down the government if it doesn’t get its way."
As Republicans urge Democrats to accept the bill, Democratic leaders have pushed back against cuts to healthcare.
Affordable Care Act subsidies are set to expire this year. And without an extension, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that more than 4 million people will lose healthcare over the next 10 years.
Thune claims that "Democrats have decided to abandon the process."
Trump admin to lay off ‘thousands’ of federal workers on day 10 of government shutdown
MSNBC and CNBC reported Friday afternoon that President Donald Trump intends to usher in "lay-offs" for "thousands" of federal workers.
The government has been shut down for the past ten days as officials in Washington debate a funding measure. Trump had made the threat previously, but now has reportedly made good on the pledge.
The Office of Management and Budget Director, Russell Vought called the job cuts "substantial."
“The RIFs have begun,” Vought wrote on X. The acronym means “Reductions in Force.”
There have already been significant government funding cuts over the past eight months under the Trump administration's efforts to eliminate "waste, fraud, and abuse" in government.
“We expect thousands of people to unfortunately be laid off due to the government shutdown," MSNBC's Vaughn Hillyard said, citing a senior White House official.
