The U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC is seen on a cloudy, misty morning on March 6, 2024.
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The White House warned federal agencies to prepare for mass shootings if Congress does not reach a contract to fund the government by next Wednesday.
A memo released Wednesday by the Office of Management and Budget considered issuing reduced employee force notifications to agencies whose funds expired on October 1, with no alternative sources of funding and “not in line with the president’s priorities.”
The warning signed a contract to raise Congress pressure and avoid government shutdowns.
In past closures, federal workers were usually temporarily abandoned until they reached budget contracts.
According to the Responsible Federal Budget Committee, around 850,000 employees were filled last year, when the government was completely shut down in 2013.
“Programs that did not benefit from the infusion of mandatory expenditures will bear the brunt of the shutdown,” OMB said in a memo. CNBC retrieved the documents individually.
The memo is the latest attempt to pressure Congressional Democrats to agree to a deal with Republicans.
“We hope that Congressional Democrats won’t cause a shutdown and the above steps wouldn’t be necessary,” the memo said.
But it’s only a few days until late Tuesday night when government funds expire, and lawmakers are still far from filing a deal.
Democrats are rigorously engaging in the demand that the law should include an enhanced tax credit extension for the Affordable Care Act, which is set to expire at the end of the year.
Earlier this month, the House of Representatives passed a suspension spending measure that had funded the government until November 21st. But Senate Democrats thwarted the action.
Democrats quickly condemned the OMB memo.
Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y. called it a “attempt to intimidate.”
“Donald Trump has been firing federal workers since day one. He’s scared, not governing,” Schumer said. “This is nothing new and has nothing to do with government funding,” he said.
Hakeem Jeffries, the leader of the minority, accused Trump and the “Maga militants” of “planning to fire massive shots of federal workers from October 1st.”
Russell Vought, posting OMB Director for Jeffries, DN.Y., X.
“Listen to Russ, you’re a malignant political hack. We’re not threatened by your threat of engaging in your mass shooting,” Jeffries wrote. “get lost.”
“Their goal is to ruin your life and punish hardworking families who are already struggling with Trump’s tariffs and inflation,” Jeffries wrote in another tweet.
“Remember it in November,” he said. All House seats will rise to get their hands on mentioning next year’s midterm elections.
