Trump floats cutting benefits during shutdown, warns Democrats are taking a risk
President Trump suggested Tuesday that his administration can make cuts to programs during a potential government shutdown, warning that Democrats are taking a risk by not voting for the GOP continuing resolution to fund the government through Nov. 21.
“We don’t want it to shut down,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “We can do things during the shutdown that are irreversible, that are bad for them and irreversible by them. Like cutting vast numbers of people out, cutting things that they like, cutting programs that they like.”
“You all know [White House budget director] Russell Vought, he’s become very popular recently because he can trim the budget to a level that you couldn’t do any other way. So, they’re taking a risk by having a shutdown. Because of the shutdown, we can do things medically and other ways, including benefits, we can cut large numbers of people out. We don’t want to do that, but we don’t want fraud, waste and abuse,” Trump said.
The president did not elaborate on what benefits and programs would be cut. Earlier on Tuesday, he said there may be “a lot” of layoffs in the federal government during a shutdown after his budget office directed agencies to prepare for mass firings.
The president told reporters in the Oval Office that there will “probably likely” be a shutdown before funding lapses at the end of the day on Tuesday, but said “nothing is inevitable.”
He claimed that Democrats want to give health care to illegal immigrants, a debate that Trump has sought to make central to the shutdown fight, though the only demands from Democrats have been centered on an extension of enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) benefits that are set to expire at year’s end.
Despite Trump's claims, the ACA benefits set to expire are not available to undocumented immigrants.
“We cannot allow them to charge tremendous amounts of money for health care for people who aren’t even citizens,” Trump said. “We have a big fight over that.”
The Democratic stopgap measure includes a permanent extension of the expiring ACA subsidies, overturning cuts to Medicaid via the “big, beautiful bill” and a restoration of rescissions cuts.
When pressed on the fact that the ACA subsidies at the center of the fight wouldn't go to undocumented immigrants, Trump said “we just, as a country, cannot afford to take care of millions of people.”
Later on Tuesday, Democrats will bring up their proposal to fund the government through Oct. 31, to permanently extend the Affordable Care Act’s enhanced health insurance premium subsidies and to restore nearly $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts.
That measure, which failed to advance in September, needs 60 votes and is expected to fail as well.
Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) will then move to the House-passed continuing resolution to fund the government through Nov. 21. That bill also failed in September, and will likely be blocked by a Republican filibuster.