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Vance Warns of More Cuts for Workers 10/13 06:12
(AP) -- Vice President JD Vance on Sunday said there will be deeper cuts to
the federal workforce the longer the government shutdown goes on, adding to the
uncertainty facing hundreds of thousands who are already furloughed without pay
amid the stubborn stalemate in Congress.
Vance warned that as the federal shutdown entered its 12th day, the new cuts
would be "painful," even as he said the Trump administration worked to ensure
that the military is paid this week and some services would be preserved for
low-income Americans, including food assistance.
Still, hundreds of thousands of government workers have been furloughed in
recent days and, in a court filing on Friday, the Office of Management and
Budget said well over 4,000 federal employees would soon be fired in
conjunction with the shutdown. The effects of the shutdown also grew Sunday
with the Smithsonian announcing its museums, research centers and the National
Zoo are temporarily closed going forward for lack of funding.
"The longer this goes on, the deeper the cuts are going to be," Vance said
on Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures." "To be clear, some of these cuts are
going to be painful. This is not a situation that we relish. This is not
something that we're looking forward to, but the Democrats have dealt us a
pretty difficult set of cards."
Labor unions have already filed a lawsuit to stop the aggressive move by
President Donald Trump 's budget office, which goes far beyond what usually
happens in a government shutdown, further inflaming tensions between the
Republicans who control Congress and the Democratic minority.
The shutdown began on Oct. 1 after Democrats rejected a short-term funding
fix and demanded that the bill include an extension of federal subsidies for
health insurance under the Affordable Care Act. The expiration of those
subsidies at the end of the year will result in monthly cost increases for
millions.
Trump and Republican leaders have said they are open to negotiations on the
health subsidies, but insist the government must reopen first.
For now, negotiations are virtually nonexistent. Dug in as ever, House
leaders from both parties pointed fingers at each other in rival Sunday
appearances on "Fox News Sunday."
"We have repeatedly made clear that we will sit down with anyone, anytime,
anyplace," said House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York.
"Republicans control the House, the Senate and the presidency. It's unfortunate
they've taken a my-way-or-the-highway approach."
House Speaker Mike Johnson blamed Democrats and said they "seem not to care"
about the pain the shutdown is inflicting.
"They're trying their best to distract the American people from the simple
fact that they've chosen a partisan fight so that they can prove to their
Marxist rising base in the Democratic Party that they're willing to fight Trump
and Republicans," he said.
Progressive activists, meanwhile, expressed new support for the Democratic
Party's position in the shutdown fight.
Ezra Levin, co-founder of the leading progressive protest group Indivisible,
said he is "feeling good about the strength of Dem position." He pointed to
fractures in the GOP, noting that Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene publicly
warned last week that health care insurance premiums would skyrocket for
average Americans -- including her own adult children -- if nothing is done.
"Trump and GOP are rightfully taking the blame for the shutdown and for
looming premium increases," Levin said. "Their chickens are coming home to
roost."
And yet the Republican administration and its congressional allies are
showing no signs of caving to Democratic demands or backing away from threats
to use the opportunity to pursue deeper cuts to the federal workforce.
Thousands of employees at the departments of Education, Treasury, Homeland
Security and Health and Human Services, as well as the Environmental Protection
Agency, are set to receive layoff notices, according to spokespeople for the
agencies and union representatives for federal workers.
"You hear a lot of Senate Democrats say, well, how can Donald Trump possibly
lay off all of these federal workers?" Vance said. "Well, the Democrats have
given us a choice between giving low-income women their food benefits and
paying our troops on the one hand, and, on the other hand, paying federal
bureaucrats."
Democrats say the firings are illegal and unnecessary.
"They do not have to do this," said Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona on
CNN's "State of the Union." "They do not have to punish people that shouldn't
find themselves in this position."
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