The Democrats don’t appear to understand what they’re doing. With the government once again on the edge of closure, President Donald Trump has suggested that a shutdown could serve as more than a temporary disruption. It might, he indicated Tuesday, become the mechanism for reshaping federal programs in ways that last long beyond the immediate standoff.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump issued a pointed warning. “They’re taking a risk by having a shutdown. We can do things during the shutdown that are irreversible, that are bad for them and irreversible,” he said. “Like cutting vast numbers of people out, cutting things that they like, cutting programs that they like.”
President Trump on Democrats: "We can do things during the shutdown that are irreversible that are bad for them and irreversible by them, like cutting vast numbers of people out, cutting things they that they like, cutting programs that they like." pic.twitter.com/nI7lktc6vy
— CSPAN (@cspan) September 30, 2025
The president did not single out which programs might be affected. But his comments made clear that he and budget director Russell Vought see the potential to impose reductions in healthcare and welfare spending that would otherwise be blocked by Congress.
Democrats quickly seized on the remarks. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer accused the White House of reckless brinkmanship. “Well, there it is: Trump admitted himself that he is using Americans as political pawns,” Schumer told reporters.
The clash follows the collapse of talks on Monday, when Schumer and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries pressed Trump for a short-term deal that would extend Affordable Care Act subsidies and undo Medicaid trims enacted in a GOP fiscal package earlier this year. Republicans, holding a narrow Senate edge, have insisted on a stopgap bill stripped of such conditions, funding operations only through November 21.
The president himself downplayed the prospect of resolution. “We’ll probably have a shutdown,” Trump remarked.
For Democrats, the stakes are higher this time. Earlier concessions on spending drew fury from progressive activists, and with Medicaid reductions already taking effect, party leaders argue they cannot yield again. Republican Senate Leader John Thune has signaled limited willingness to revisit healthcare aid—but only after government functions resume.
The machinery of shutdown preparation is already in motion. The Office of Management and Budget has instructed agencies to draw up plans for workforce reductions, reported Poltiico. The Congressional Budget Office, in a Tuesday assessment, estimated that as many as 750,000 federal workers could be sidelined once the shutdown begins.
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