Trump Threatens Mass Firings Of Government Workers

 

The Malignant Fascist regime, backed by its meek MAGAt Republican toadies in Congress, is once again making extortionist threats like the mob boss he is -- this time threatening mass firings of government workers if the Federal government is shutdown on October 1 due to lack of a funding bill:

The White House is telling agencies to prepare large-scale firings of federal workers if the government shuts down next week.

In a memo released Wednesday night, the Office of Management and Budget said agencies should consider a reduction in force for federal programs whose funding would lapse next week, is not otherwise funded and is “not consistent with the President’s priorities.” That would be a much more aggressive step than in previous shutdowns, when federal workers not deemed essential were furloughed but returned to their jobs once Congress approved government spending.

A reduction in force would not only lay off employees but eliminate their positions, which would trigger yet another massive upheaval in a federal workforce that has already faced major rounds of cuts this year due to efforts from the Department of Government Efficiency and elsewhere in the Trump administration. [snip]

This move from OMB significantly increases the consequences of a potential government shutdown next week and escalates pressure on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. The two leaders have kept nearly all of their Democratic lawmakers united against a clean funding bill pushed by President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans that would keep the federal government operating for seven more weeks, demanding immediate improvements to health care in exchange for their votes.  

This comes just after the Malignant Fascist cancelled a scheduled meeting with Schumer and Jeffries to discuss the funding bill, saying “I have decided that no meeting with their Congressional Leaders could possibly be productive.”  Schumer and Jeffries responded to the mass firing threat:

“We will not be intimidated by your threat to engage in mass firings,” Jeffries wrote in a post on X. “Get lost.” 

Jeffries called Russ Vought, the head of OMB, a “malignant political hack.”

Schumer said in a statement that the OMB memo is an “attempt at intimidation” and predicted the “unnecessary firings will either be overturned in court or the administration will end up hiring the workers back.”

The Democrats' demands, which were far more modest than we and many others would have liked, included a limited extension of enhanced health insurance subsidies and a rollback of the big Medicaid cuts that were in the catastrophic "One Big Beautiful Bill" (for billionaires).  

Democrats need to stand together and not be extorted by the convicted felon and his "malignant political" hacks with the knowledge that extortionists always come back for more, and that the American people have a good idea who'd be to blame for a shutdown (click to enlarge):

The pain and disruption the Malignant Fascist is willing to inflict on many thousand workers and their families is completely on him.  Stand firm Democrats!

(Photo:  via Reuters)