By Abiola Olawale
United States President Donald Trump has warned of sweeping federal layoffs as the US government officially entered a shutdown at midnight, marking the first such impasse since 2019.
The development came after the US Congress failed to pass a funding bill amid disagreement over healthcare costs and spending priorities.
The shutdown, triggered by the expiration of fiscal year 2025 funding at 11:59 p.m. ET on September 30, is expected to halt non-essential operations across dozens of agencies.
Trump, speaking from the Oval Office late Tuesday, blamed Democrats for the stalemate, stating, “When you shut it down, you have to do layoffs.”
Trump also threatened to punish Democrats and their voters by targeting progressive priorities and forcing mass public sector job cuts during the first stoppage since the one during his previous term.
“So we’d be laying off a lot of people who are going to be very affected. And they’re Democrats, they’re going to be Democrats,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
He said a “lot of good can come down from shutdowns,” and suggested he would use the pause to “get rid of a lot of things we didn’t want, and they’d be Democrat things.”
The New Diplomat reports that it is the first shutdown since the longest one in US history, lasting 35 days, almost seven years ago during Trump’s previous term.
It was gathered that the latest situation occurred after Republicans fell short of the 60 votes needed to pass legislation.
The New Diplomat’s checks revealed that in the US Senate, Republicans hold 53 seats and Democrats, 47.
It was also gathered that the disagreement is over a short-term spending bill introduced by the Republicans. The bill lays out the funding of government operations until November 21.
The main stumbling block is said to be continued funding for the Affordable Care Act, also called Obamacare.
Democrats are refusing to back the Republican bill unless Republicans undo recent cuts to Medicaid enacted under Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” in July.
Democrats also want to extend special tax credits that reduce the cost of health insurance for Americans.
However, Republicans haven’t given in to the demands yet, meaning the Senate has hit a stumbling block.
