Trump piles pain on Democrats

Donald Trump signaled on Thursday that he plans to follow through on his threat for mass layoffs of US federal workers as he ratcheted pressure on Democrats to back moves to end the government shutdown.

The Republican president announced he would meet budget chief Russell Vought "to determine which of the many Democrat Agencies, most of which are a political SCAM, he recommends to be cut, and whether or not those cuts will be temporary or permanent."

Trump's announcement on his Truth Social website came with the government entering the second day of a stoppage that is expected to see 750,000 employees being sent home without pay across a wide range of agencies.

Vought told House Republicans on Wednesday many of those workers would be targeted for permanent layoffs to be announced in the next day or two, echoing Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt's threat that firings were "imminent."

Leavitt told reporters on Thursday the job cuts were likely going to number "in the thousands."

Trump has emphasized that he views cutbacks as a way of increasing pain on Democrats, arguing that "we can do things during the shutdown that are irreversible, that are bad for them and irreversible by them."

Senate Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and his House counterpart Hakeem Jeffries have dismissed the job cuts threat as an attempt at intimidation and said mass firings would not stand up in court.

Two Senate Democrats and an independent who votes with the party have broken with their colleagues but the rest have been voting against a House-passed resolution to keep the government funded at current levels through November 21.

Weekend votes?

The Senate is not voting on Thursday because of the Jewish Yom Kippur holiday, but another vote is expected on Friday and on most days until the standoff is resolved.

With Democrats expected to block the Republican reopening plan again, Republicans were reportedly mulling sending their senators home after the vote -- effectively guaranteeing the shutdown drags into next week.

But House Speaker Mike Johnson, whose members have been off all week, told reporters Senate leaders need to stick to an initial plan to work through the weekend in Washington.

"And the House is coming back next week, hoping that they will be sending us something to work on, that we can get back to work and do the people's business," he told a news conference at the US Capitol.