Trump openly threatens to use shutdown to target Democrats for cuts
President Donald Trump on Thursday openly threatened to use the government shutdown to cut federal funding to Democratic-run states and cities, contradicting Vice President JD Vance who said the day before the White House would not be targeting 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."
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.
"We're not targeting federal agencies based on politics," Vance said. "We're targeting the people's government so that it as much if possible of the essential services get to continue to function."
Vance's comments came hours after Vought announced that he would end millions of federal funds for New York and New Jersey infrastructure projects championed by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York.
Legal experts, federal unions and some Democrats argued the Constitution and federal law allow only Congress to declare cuts to federal agencies or remove them entirely.
Speaker Mike Johnson, however, defended Trump's move, saying Democrats had handed Trump “the keys to the kingdom” by forcing a shutdown.
The top House Republican argued Trump and Vought are "going to look to see for the administration's priorities first, sure that those are funded."
"And so that's some those are some very serious determinations that have to be made. We want to protect hard working federal workers, and these are people who protect all the rest of us," Johnson said.
He, however, insisted without more details that Trump's potential firings were within his powers.
"Is it constitutional? Is it lawful? Is it part of our system? Of course it is. It always has been," Johnson said without giving more details.
The White House has not provided more details on the legality of Trump's threats nor has it responded to questions as to how firing people who are not getting paid would cut down on waste.
-ABC News' Allison Pecorin, Karen Travers and Isabella Murray contributed to this report.
