The White House warned Monday of imminent layoffs and the loss of critical nutrition programs if the government shutdown persists.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the firing of federal workers, which the administration has warned of since the shutdown began Wednesday, still hasn’t yet been ruled out.
“The Office of Management and Budget is continuing to work with agencies on who, unfortunately, is going to have to be laid off if this shutdown continues,” she said at a White House press briefing.
President Trump on Sunday said that firings are “taking place right now,” and that they are “because of the Democrats.”
At the briefing, Ms. Leavitt said that Mr. Trump was referring to furloughed workers, but signaled that layoffs still may come.
When asked if another failed vote in the Senate would spark firings, Ms. Leavitt said, “We’ll see how the vote goes tonight.”
“We hope that the vote will not fail because this administration wants to reopen the government. We don’t want to see people laid off. But unfortunately, if this shutdown continues, layoffs are going to be an unfortunate consequence of that,” she said.
Ms. Leavitt also warned that if Monday night’s Senate vote fails, key food assistance programs for low-income households and pregnant women will run out of money. She said funds for the Women, Infants and Children program and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program will be exhausted “very soon” if the shutdown continues.
“The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children will run out of federal money very soon,” she said. “It can be easily funded if the Democrats simply vote tonight to reopen the government.”
It is unclear when the programs will exhaust funds, but the shutdown has caused uncertainty and confusion for recipients.
