White House escalates shutdown consequences as Democrats show no signs of budging: ‘Kamikaze attack’

The Trump administration is ramping up the consequences of a lingering government shutdown as a lapse in appropriations enters its eighth day, with no signs of ending soon. 

Now, the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has floated plans reviewed by Fox News Digital that would not guarantee that federal workers currently furloughed from the shutdown would receive backpay — upending a 2019 law from Trump’s first administration in the aftermath of a 35-day shutdown.

The threat of furloughed workers failing to receive backpay increases the stakes every day that Congress fails to pass a funding measure — and puts greater pressure on Democrats as President Donald Trump continues to accuse them of creating the crisis. 

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Trump told reporters Tuesday during a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney that Democrats were the ones who started the shutdown, even as Democrats have pinned the blame on Republicans, who control both the House and Senate. 

“This is like a kamikaze attack. They have nothing to lose,” Trump said of the Democrats, referencing suicide missions by Japanese aviators during World War II.  

Additionally, Trump said it “depends on who we’re talking about” when asked about whether furloughed workers would be compensated after the shutdown ends.  

“The Democrats have put a lot of people in great risk and jeopardy, but it really depends on who you’re talking about,” Trump said. “But for the most part, we’re going to take care of our people. There are some people that really don’t deserve to be taken care of, and we’ll take care of them in a different way.”

The possibility of furloughed workers not receiving backpay, first reported by Axios, already comes as the Trump administration is moving to trim the federal government. For example, OMB already instructed agencies in September to craft plans for a reduction-in-force should a government shutdown occur. 

The move is a departure from the status quo, since furloughed employees typically return to their jobs once the government shutdown ends. 

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But Trump signaled that permanent cuts would emerge in the coming days, and that “a lot of those jobs will never come back.” 

“We have a lot of things that we’re going to eliminate and permanently eliminate,” Trump said Tuesday. 

The government entered a partial shutdown Oct. 1, amid a stalemate between Senate Republicans and Democrats over a short-term funding bill to keep the government open through Nov. 21. The House previously had passed the temporary spending bill in September. 

Three Senate Democrats joined Republicans to vote for the temporary funding bill on Sept. 30, but the measure didn’t hit the required 60 votes needed for passage.

Trump and Republicans assert Democrats want to provide illegal immigrants healthcare, due to a provision that would repeal part of Trump’s tax and domestic policy bill known as the “big, beautiful bill” that scaled back Medicaid eligibility for those who aren’t U.S. citizens. 

Even so, Democrats have pushed back against these claims, and have said they want to permanently extend certain Affordable Care Act subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year. 

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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., accused Republicans of not taking the shutdown seriously and are “refusing to address the health care crisis they created.”

“It’s past time to get it done,” Schumer told reporters Tuesday. 

The White House said in a Wednesday statement to Fox News Digital that every shutdown comes with consequences and that Democrats “simply” voted to reopen the government. 

“Whether it’s our brave military members working without pay, business owners missing out on previously promised contract work, or families dealing with flight delays, everyone is paying the price for the Democrats’ radical demands,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said. 

The Senate is gearing up for another vote on a temporary spending bill Wednesday. 

Fox News’ Alex Miller contributed to this report.