ED MORRISSEY: White House: Nice Swamp Ya Got There, Chuck. Shame If Something Happened to It.
Of course, even with the spin, that still leaves Trump in charge of any shutdown. As I explained on Tuesday, that would give any aspiring swamp-draining president plenty of opportunity to hammer Democrats’ constituencies, but even I may have underestimated Trump’s ambition. The Wall Street Journal reports today that they will use any shutdown as an opportunity for permanent mass firings, not just furloughs:
The White House’s budget office directed federal agencies to draw up plans to permanently reduce their workforces if there is a government shutdown next week, raising the specter of mass firings on top of the customary furloughs during a lapse in funding.
The new memo sent by Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought sharply raises the stakes for funding talks and increases the pressure on Senate Democrats, who are demanding that Republicans restore hundreds of billions of dollars in healthcare spending as a condition of their support for keeping the government funded.
“Sharply raises the stakes”? You better believe it, Chuck. Vought makes clear, too, that the cuts will get targeted in accordance with Trump’s priorities:
The OMB memo instructs agencies to design reduction-in-force plans for employees who work for programs that have no current funding and have no outside funding source, and that are “not consistent with the President’s priorities.” This would be in addition to any temporary furloughs that happen during a government shutdown.
The memo from Vought says that any cuts made after the funding deadline would be permanent.
John Nolte adds, “Trump can’t lose here. Democrats will be blamed for the shutdown. Bureaucrats will be fired (tee hee). On the other hand, if Democrats cave and vote for the continuing resolution, their base will be furious. Additionally, these insane demands from Democrats have already been made public, which will haunt them going into the midterms.”
Or as Ed Morrissey writes, “Nice box canyon ahead of you, Chuck.”
Jim Geraghty concurs: Democrats Prepare to March into a Box Canyon by Shutting Down the Government. “Do you envision Trump making significant concessions to ease the pain and suffering of federal government workers? No, I don’t, either. Schumer and the Democrats will have gotten themselves into a high-stakes fight with Trump where one of the party’s key constituencies — government workers — feel the most pain, and it gets worse the longer it drags on.”