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White House: Shutdown Layoffs Will Be \u2018North Of 10,000\u2019<\/p>\n
White House budget director Russ Vought is projecting that over 10,000 federal employees will be terminated due to the current government shutdown.<\/p>\n
Vought pledged to \u201ccontinue the RIFs,\u201d alluding to the reduction-in-force notifications issued by agencies to terminate government employees on Friday.<\/p>\n
Shortly after Vought\u2019s statement, a federal judge in California introduced ambiguity into Vought\u2019s commitment by prohibiting the layoffs associated with the closure. The Trump administration will contest that verdict.<\/p>\n
Approximately 4,000 government employees have been terminated, as shown by court documents; however, the budget director anticipates that the total will likely exceed 10,000, as noted by\u00a0Politico.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to be very aggressive where we can be in shuttering the bureaucracy\u2014not just the funding, but the bureaucracy\u2014and we now have an opportunity to do that,\u201d Vought added on The Charlie Kirk Show, speaking in his first live interview since the shutdown began.<\/p>\n
Vought anticipated that the layoffs would affect agencies misaligned with the Trump administration\u2019s priorities, including environmental justice initiatives at the Department of Energy and EPA, the Minority Business Development Agency, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.<\/p>\n
The remarks were made a day after President Donald Trump pledged to provide a new list of programs for elimination on Friday, should the shutdown persist until the week\u2019s conclusion.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re closing up programs that are Democrat programs that we were opposed to,\u201d Trump said Tuesday. \u201cAnd they\u2019re never going to come back in many cases.\u201d<\/p>\n
House Speaker Mike Johnson warned Wednesday that the Trump administration\u2019s effort to keep military families paid during the ongoing government shutdown is only a temporary fix that could soon expire.<\/p>\n
During a press conference at the Capitol, Johnson said the administration\u2019s move to reroute Pentagon funds to cover military paychecks is a short-term measure that cannot continue indefinitely, Politico\u00a0reported.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe problem we have right now is that, in spite of President Trump\u2019s heroic efforts to make sure they get paid, that is a temporary fix,\u201d Johnson told reporters.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe executive branch, his help, is not permanent. It can\u2019t be,\u201d he added. \u201cAnd if the Democrats continue to vote to keep the government closed as they have done so many times, then we know U.S. troops are going to risk missing a full paycheck at the end of this month.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Trump administration authorized the Department of Defense to use unspent research and development funds to pay active-duty service members during the shutdown, which began earlier this month after the Senate failed to pass a funding measure.<\/p>\n
The move provided temporary relief for military families who were preparing to miss their paychecks.<\/p>\n
Johnson credited the president for taking action, but said the measure does not address the larger problem.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe reason that the way they were able to get the troops paid for this paycheck \u2014 and as I said, this is not an enduring solution, because we will run out of the funds \u2014 but there was some unspent funds in, effectively, R&D accounts in defense,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey moved that over to prioritize payment of those who are putting their lives on the line today and who have families in serious situations,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
The government shutdown has resulted in thousands of federal employees being furloughed or temporarily laid off.<\/p>\n
Those deemed \u201cessential,\u201d including active-duty military and federal law enforcement, continue to work but often without pay until the shutdown ends.<\/p>\n
The House passed a short-term funding measure known as a continuing resolution on September 19 to keep the government operating through November 21.<\/p>\n
The measure would give lawmakers more time to negotiate a comprehensive spending agreement for fiscal year 2026.<\/p>\n
To advance in the Senate, the resolution requires 60 votes.<\/p>\n
So far, only three Democrats have joined Republicans in voting to end the shutdown.<\/p>\n
In one of the most talked-about political moments of the year, Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana responded to a provocative tweet from Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) with a move that stunned the nation \u2014 not with insults or outrage, but with receipts.<\/p>\n
During a live, nationally televised forum, Kennedy read aloud every tweet AOC had posted in a recent thread, line by line, without commentary, spin, or interruption. What followed wasn\u2019t a debate. It was, as many observers called it, a reckoning.<\/p>\n
The moment was sparked by a fiery exchange on social media earlier in the week. In a now-viral tweet, Ocasio-Cortez referred to Kennedy as \u201cdangerous\u201d and claimed that his rhetoric \u201cneeds to be silenced before it spreads further disinformation.\u201d Though the tweet has since been deleted, screenshots circulated widely, igniting fierce commentary on both sides of the aisle.<\/p>\n
Rather than respond online or through a standard press release, Kennedy chose a bold stage for his rebuttal: a prime-time appearance on\u00a0America Tonight<\/em>, a bipartisan forum on policy, media, and public discourse. Sitting beneath the studio lights, Kennedy opened a folder, pulled out a printed copy of AOC\u2019s full Twitter thread, and addressed the audience.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not here to insult anyone,\u201d he began, calmly. \u201cI\u2019m here to let the Congresswoman speak for herself \u2014 in her own words.\u201d<\/p>\n He then read the entire thread out loud, including the tweet stating he \u201cneeds to be silenced,\u201d as well as several others accusing him of perpetuating \u201cright-wing extremism\u201d and \u201ctoxic Southern populism.\u201d Kennedy didn\u2019t react. He didn\u2019t mock. He didn\u2019t even raise his voice. He simply read each tweet, pausing between them to let the words settle.<\/p>\n The silence in the studio was heavy.<\/p>\n After reading the thread, Kennedy closed the folder and spoke plainly to the camera.<\/p>\n \u201cYou may not like me. You may disagree with me. But in this country, we don\u2019t silence each other. We argue. We debate. We persuade. That\u2019s the American way,\u201d he said, referencing the First Amendment.<\/p>\n Without raising a finger in retaliation, Kennedy flipped the discussion to a higher plane: \u201cCongresswoman Ocasio-Cortez is free to call me anything she wants. That\u2019s her right. But when you say someone needs to be silenced, you\u2019re not just disagreeing with them \u2014 you\u2019re threatening the foundation of this republic.\u201d<\/p>\n The moment quickly gained traction on social media, where clips from the broadcast were shared across platforms with hashtags like #SilenceIsNotDemocracy and #KennedyVsAOC trending within the hour.<\/p>\n As expected, the political world erupted. Conservatives praised Kennedy for his restraint and clarity, calling the segment a \u201ctextbook lesson in free speech and constitutional values.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe didn\u2019t attack her. He exposed her \u2014 with her own words,\u201d Fox News host Jesse Watters said.<\/p>\n On the other side, progressives rallied around AOC, with some suggesting the Senator had taken the tweets out of context, even though he had read them in full. \u201cKennedy\u2019s dramatics don\u2019t change the fact that disinformation is real and dangerous,\u201d tweeted one prominent AOC supporter.<\/p>\n Still, even some liberal commentators admitted that Kennedy\u2019s move was effective.<\/p>\n \u201cYou may not agree with Kennedy, but you have to admit \u2014 that was a power move,\u201d said CNN contributor Van Jones. \u201cHe didn\u2019t yell. He didn\u2019t deflect. He made people listen to what was actually said.\u201d<\/p>\n Interestingly, AOC has yet to comment directly on Kennedy\u2019s televised rebuttal. Her official Twitter and Instagram accounts have remained focused on legislative updates and community events, without reference to the incident. Whether she is regrouping, planning a formal response, or choosing to move on remains to be seen.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Kennedy has seen a surge in public support, especially from moderates who view his actions as a defense of civil discourse at a time when it often seems under siege.<\/p>\n Beyond the partisan reactions, the moment struck a chord with everyday Americans weary of the toxicity in political debate. Kennedy\u2019s decision to let AOC\u2019s own words speak for themselves \u2014 and to then pivot to a principled defense of the First Amendment \u2014 gave many viewers something they hadn\u2019t expected from politics: a sense of clarity.<\/p>\n In an age of soundbites and spin, the most powerful move may have been the simplest one \u2014 telling the truth, without commentary, and letting the public decide.<\/p>\n Whether this moment will shift the narrative or become just another viral flash in the endless culture war remains to be seen. But for one night, a U.S. Senator reminded the nation what democracy sounds like \u2014 unfiltered and unapologetic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" White House: Shutdown Layoffs Will Be \u2018North Of 10,000\u2019 White House budget director Russ Vought is projecting that over 10,000 federal employees will be terminated due to the current government shutdown. Vought…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15666,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hot-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t