Government shutdown 2025 live: Trump threatens layoffs if Democrats block spending

Federal workers’ unions filed a lawsuit Tuesday to stop President Donald Trump from carrying out mass firings if the government shuts down.

The unions pointed out in the lawsuit that in the past, federal employees either continued to work during a shutdown but were not paid until an appropriations bill was passed, or they were furloughed and received back pay after the shutdown ended.

Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Trump said, “We can do things during the shutdown that are irreversible, that are bad for [Democrats] and irreversible by them, like cutting vast numbers of people out, cutting things that they like, cutting programs that they like.”

Everett Kelley, the national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, which is a plantiff in the lawsuit, said in a statement: “Announcing plans to fire potentially tens of thousands of federal employees simply because Congress and the administration are at odds on funding the government past the end of the fiscal year is not only illegal – it’s immoral and unconscionable.”

Kelley continued: “Federal employees dedicate their careers to public service – more than a third are military veterans – and the contempt being shown them by this administration is appalling.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota has said Republicans will not be “held hostage” by Democrats as a government shutdown looms.

Republicans need the support of eight Democrats to pass a short-term spending bill before midnight tonight, Thune said.

Chuck Schumer blasted Donald Trump’s vulgar Truth Social post mocking him with an apparent AI-generated video after Monday negotiations about the imminent government shut down yielded no results.

“If you think your shutdown is a joke, it just proves what we all know: You can’t negotiate. You can only throw tantrums,” Schumer wrote on X.

A federal judge unloaded on Donald Trump and top administration officials for threatening First Amendment rights of international students for demonstrating against Israel’s war in Gaza.

A damning 161-page opinion Tuesday found that State Secretary Marco Rubio and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem illegally chilled protected speech of pro-Palestinian students and faculty by threatening to revoke their visas and then arresting, detaining and deporting them.

President Trump appeared to forget the name of Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries as he recalled a meeting with him and Chuck Schumer to discuss the looming government shutdown.

Jeffries and Schumer met with the president Monday but there was no breakthrough, with Schumer saying both sides still had “very large differences” on issues including health care.

Announcing a deal with pharma-giant Pfizer on Tuesday, Trump said he had spoken to the men about prescription drug pricing.

“This has a big impact even on the discussion that we’ll have with Chuck Schumer who was here yesterday, along with a very nice gentleman who I didn’t really know,” he said, referring to Jeffries.

“You know who I’m talking about. The two of them came and we have a very good discussion. And we’re going to see what happens.”

Democrats are usually not the type of party to make these types of threats. Historically, because they see themselves as the party of government, they tend to avoid a shutdown.

And indeed, they have not yet said they are willing to allow for a shutdown. Rather, they keep repeating their talking point that they want to keep the government open and extend the subsidies.

“And the message from these federal employees has been that since day one, Donald Trump and Russ Vought and Elon Musk have been attacking federal workers and therefore attacking the services that they provide to the American people,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland told The Independent.

“We all want to keep the federal government open, but we don’t want to give Donald Trump a blank check to continue his lawless activities and leave the time bomb ticking on health care in America, because as you know, when that bomb goes off, millions of Americans will see their premiums spike.”

But the fact remains that if Democrats vote against this, there’s no real off-ramp or road back to reopening the government. Republicans control the majorities in both houses and can bring a vote any time they want. It’s a sign of Democrats’ powerlessness under the second Trump administration and their lack of leverage.

Democrats see this showdown over spending not only as a chance to extend subsidies for the Affordable Care Act’s marketplaces put in place during the Covid-19 pandemic. They also see it as a chance to fight back.

It’s an inherently risky move. But Democrats say they have already faced massive cuts to the federal workforce across the board.

Sen. Raphael Warnock, whose home state of Georgia houses the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said that he is not phased by these threats.

“Let me say that we don’t want a government shutdown, but the sad reality is that the Trump administration has already been shutting the government,” he told The Independent.