White House: layoffs will start if conversations about stoppage “do not give anything”

By Andrea Shalal and Leah Douglas

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Trump government will start mass layoffs of federal officials if President Donald Trump decides that negotiations with Congress democrats to end the government’s partial stoppage are “absolutely going anywhere,” said White House National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett.

While the stoppage entered his fifth day, Hassett told CNN’s “State of the Union” program that he still saw a chance for Democrats to back down, avoiding a costly stoppage and federal employee layoffs that were threatened by White House Budget Director Russell Voght.

“President Trump and Russ Voght are aligning things and preparing to act if necessary, but they expect it not to happen,” he said.

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“If the president decides that negotiations are not going anywhere, then layoffs will begin to occur. But I think everyone still hopes that when we start again earlier this week, we can make Democrats see that it is just common sense to avoid dismissals like this,” he added.

But there have been no tangible negotiation signs to end the impasse since Trump met with the major congressional leaders last week. The stoppage began on October 1, the beginning of the 2026 fiscal year, after the Senate Democrats rejected a short -term financing measure that would keep federal agencies open until November 21.

Democrats are requiring a permanent extension of enhanced award tax credits to help Americans buy private health insurance through the Affordable Care Act and written guarantees that the White House will not try to unilaterally cancel the expenses agreed in any agreement.

“What we saw were negotiations through deeply false videos, the House canceling voting and, of course, President Trump passing yesterday on the golf course. This is not responsible behavior,” Hakeem Jeffries told NBC’s “Meet The Press.”

(Report by Andrea Shalal, Leah Douglas and David Morgan)