As the Trump administration continues to lay off hundreds of federal workers during a shutdown that has entered its third week, defiant Democrats say they will not be cowed or intimidated by President Donald Trump’s tactics of pushing them with mass layoffs or his threats of more layoffs to come.
Recently, the Trump administration has laid off as many as 4,200 federal workers, it said in a court filing. The mass layoffs in the federal government reportedly affected seven agencies, including the Treasury Department, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Education, according to a Justice Department lawsuit.
Virginia Senator Tim Kaine said: “People say you have to stop the carnage. And you don’t stop it by giving in.” She said she talked to people all over her state.
Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz dismissed the shootings as “mostly explosions” and predicted they would eventually be overturned in court or overturned by other means. On Wednesday, that process was already underway as a federal judge in California temporarily blocked the administration from carrying out the layoffs.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said the firings are a “flawed attempt” to sway Democratic votes. Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said the Trump administration’s “intimidation tactics are not working. And they will continue to fail.”
Voters demand health insurance subsidies
Most Democrats said voters demanded to know more about health insurance subsidies that expire at the end of the year — an issue that has become a bone of contention between Democrats and Republicans.
Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware said the impact of ending health insurance subsidies on millions of people, along with the Medicaid cuts Republicans enacted earlier this year, “far outweighs” any federal worker layoffs the administration is threatening.
Republicans are also confident in their strategy of not renegotiating health care subsidies until Democrats give them the votes to reopen the government. There was no sign of movement on either side.
“We are approaching one of the longest shutdowns in American history,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said earlier this week.
Meanwhile, Senate Democrats are poised to reject a temporary spending bill for the 10th time, insisting they will not compromise their efforts to get Congress to address health care benefits.
(With input from agencies)
