Trump Reissues Layoff Threats Amid Escalating Government Shutdown Blame Game

As the federal government entered its fifth day of partial shutdown on Sunday, October 6, 2025, former President Donald Trump reignited political tensions by renewing threats of mass layoffs—this time targeting federal workers—while top Democratic and Republican leaders traded sharp accusations over who’s really to blame for the impasse.

Shutdown Enters Day Five With No End in Sight

The government shutdown, now in its fifth consecutive day, has halted nonessential federal services, furloughed thousands of employees, and disrupted everything from national park operations to IRS processing. Yet despite mounting public pressure, negotiations between Capitol Hill’s top leaders remain deadlocked.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) each accused the other of lacking seriousness in talks to fund the government before the fiscal year began on October 1.

“Speaker Johnson refuses to come to the table with a realistic proposal,” Schumer said in a press briefing Saturday. “This shutdown is entirely avoidable—and entirely on the GOP’s shoulders.”

Johnson fired back, calling Schumer’s stance “performative obstruction” and insisting Democrats are using the shutdown to rally their base ahead of the 2026 midterms.

Trump’s Layoff Threat Adds Fuel to the Fire

Meanwhile, Donald Trump—campaigning aggressively for a potential 2028 presidential run—amplified the chaos with a late-night Truth Social post threatening to “drastically reduce the bloated federal workforce” if elected again.

“If they can’t do their jobs during a shutdown, why pay them at all?” Trump wrote, echoing rhetoric from his first term. The comment drew swift condemnation from federal employee unions and bipartisan lawmakers who warned such statements could further destabilize an already fragile negotiation environment.

This isn’t the first time Trump has floated mass layoffs. In 2020, his administration pushed for a controversial plan to reclassify federal workers to make them easier to fire—a proposal that stalled in court.

Who’s Affected by the Shutdown?

While essential services like air traffic control and border security continue, many federal agencies have scaled back dramatically:

National Parks: Closed or operating with minimal staff
FDA: Delayed food safety inspections
IRS: Tax processing and customer service halted
EPA: Environmental enforcement paused
Small Business Administration: Loan approvals frozen

Public Opinion and Historical Context

According to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, 58% of Americans blame congressional Republicans for the shutdown, while 32% point to Democrats. Only 9% say both sides share equal responsibility.

Historically, shutdowns rarely last beyond a week—but political brinkmanship has grown more common in recent years:

Year	Duration	Primary Cause	President
2013	16 days	Obamacare funding	Obama
2018–2019	35 days	Border wall funding	Trump
2025	Ongoing (Day 5)	Spending caps & social programs	Biden

What’s Next?

Leaders from both parties have signaled willingness to return to negotiations Monday, but deep ideological divides—particularly over defense spending versus social safety net funding—remain unresolved.

As Trump’s layoff threats echo across social media, pressure is mounting on Congress to act before the economic ripple effects worsen. For now, millions of federal workers—and the Americans who rely on their services—are left in limbo.