Trump vows to leverage shutdown to target Democrats for cuts
On Thursday, President Donald Trump openly threatened to reduce federal funding to Democratic-led states and cities during the government shutdown, contradicting Vice President JD Vance's statement from the previous day that the White House would not target Democrats.
Trump was expected to meet with Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought on Thursday to discuss the cuts and made it clear in a social media post and in recent interviews that he is targeting "Democratic Agencies," News.Az reports citing ABC news.
In his post, the president referred to Vought's co-authoring Project 2025, the controversial conservative playbook that outlined ways the federal government could dismantle several federal agencies and privatize others.
"I have a meeting today with Russ Vought, he of PROJECT 2025 Fame, 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," the president wrote on social media.
He called the shutdown an "unprecedented opportunity" to make cuts after earlier saying he could save billions by clearing out "dead wood."
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Thursday could not give more specifics on what defined "Democratic Agencies."
"We're going to look at agencies that don't align, align with the administration's values that we feel are a waste of the taxpayer dollar," she told reporters, saying the threat of mass firings is "very real."
During a White House press briefing on Wednesday, Vance was asked by reporters about Trump's past comments indicating he would go after Democrats during the shutdown. Vance denied that the president was singling out that party with his threat.
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