United States President Donald Trump warned there could be mass layoffs if the federal government shutdown isn’t avoided this week.
“We are going to cut a lot of the people that ... we’re able to cut on a permanent basis,” he told NBC News in an exclusive interview.
″[I’d] rather not do that.”
The U.S. government will run out of money at midnight on 30 September unless Democrats and Republicans can agree on a funding bill.
Last week , Democratic leaders were set to meet with Trump to discuss funding to preserve health care programs and avoid the shutdown.
Trump later cancelled the meeting with the belief that not much would come out of it.
“After reviewing the details of the unserious and ridiculous demands being made by the Minority Radical Left Democrats in return for their Votes to keep our thriving Country open, I have decided that no meeting with their Congressional Leaders could possibly be productive,” he posted to Truth Social.
Trump last week told federal agencies to begin preparing for mass firings if Congress cannot agree on a deal to avert a shutdown. This would mark a new precedent of firing federal employees, who are normally furloughed in such cases.
With not much time until the looming government funding deadline, lawmakers still remain far apart on negotiations, increasing the chances of a shutdown.
