Amid the ongoing government shutdown and renewed threats of federal worker layoffs, President Donald Trump has sent a clear message to his critics.
Trump took to Truth Social on Wednesday night, sharing an posted by a supporter. The image featured Trump signing a document in the Oval Office, accompanied by the statement: “Cry all you want. He’s doing exactly what I hired him for.”
Just before the repost, Trump appeared to reaffirm his Administration’s intention to use the shutdown as an opportunity to implement mass layoffs and restructure the federal workforce.
“Republicans must use this opportunity of Democrat-forced closure to clear out dead wood, waste, and fraud,” Trump , suggesting “billions of dollars” could be saved.
The President previously suggested Democrats would bear the brunt of the layoffs, telling reporters, “We’d be laying off a lot of people that are going to be very affected, and they’re Democrats. They’re gonna be Democrats.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stated Wednesday that “layoffs are imminent” and Trump has “directed his cabinet, and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is working with agencies to identify where cuts can be made.”
Leavitt added that further announcements regarding the impact on the federal workforce, expected to begin within two days, would be forthcoming.
Pursuing layoffs deviates from the standard practice of furloughing workers until government funding is restored. The Trump Administration’s enthusiasm for layoffs has drawn strong criticism from Democratic lawmakers.
House Democratic Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries described the impending layoffs as “cruelty,” highlighting the mass dismissals and office closures that have occurred since Trump’s return to office.
“These are all the things that the Trump Administration has been doing since January 20,” Jeffries said, seemingly referencing the widespread (DOGE), previously overseen by Elon Musk.
DOGE claimed to have cut government spending by $55 billion in the first month of Trump’s second term, but a TIME review of the itemized savings on DOGE’s found only about $16 billion in verifiable savings.
Indicating strained communication between the parties, Jeffries also that he hasn’t heard from the White House since Monday.
The government shutdown, the first in nearly seven years, began on October 1 after a Congressional stalemate between Republicans and Democrats over spending and Affordable Care Act subsidies. An attempt to find common ground failed Tuesday night when Senate Democrats rejected a House-passed Republican bill to extend funding until November 21. The bill failed to address the expiring ACA subsidies or reverse the featured in Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” signed into law on July 4.
A blame game has erupted, with each party blaming the other for the shutdown.
While the President and Congress continue to be paid, some lawmakers have pledged to forgo their salaries in solidarity with affected federal workers and everyday Americans until the government reopens.
Republican Rep. Ron Estes of Kansas has requested his salary be withheld for the duration of the shutdown.
“Democrats, led by Chuck Schumer, have pushed Congress into another Schumer shutdown. During a government shutdown, members of Congress still receive their paychecks. This is unfair when some federal employees are furloughed and/or don’t receive their paychecks,” Estes said via social media, sharing a requesting his salary be withheld.
Democratic Sen. Andy Kim of New Jersey is also refusing his salary.
“It’s wrong that the President and Members of Congress get paid during a government shutdown when our military and public servants don’t. I will be refusing my own pay… Government leaders shouldn’t be playing with other people’s chips,” said .
