Many Democrats believe the White House is bluffing and insist Republicans will bear responsibility for a shutdown in the public eye because the GOP controls the government.

The Trump administration is expecting a government shutdown come Wednesday and there are no current plans to negotiate with Democratic leadership, according to a senior White House official.

“We’re going to extract maximum pain,” said the official, granted anonymity to discuss political strategy, adding that Democrats “will pay a huge price for this.”

The comments underscore the White House’s belief that Democrats will be blamed for a shutdown and its ripple effects, which could include mass layoffs across the federal government.

    • blave@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      Trump is using more layoffs during the shutdown as a threat to get rid of employees that don’t “align with his political agenda“.

      But this isn’t much of a threat to the Democrats, especially because they all know he’s gonna do some bullshit like that anyway, and appeasing him now will just embolden him.

      • jacksilver@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        Yeah, he’s already played the mass RIF hand. He’s going to try to make it happen with/without a shutdown.

        Also, anyone slightly aware of things knows a shutdown doesn’t cause mass layoffs, that’s all Republicans.

    • Ironfist79@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      The cognitive dissonance is almost unbearable. I thought conservatives hated the government? Shouldn’t they be celebrating a shutdown? They are literally getting what they want.