A government shutdown looks all-but-certain due to Democrats insisting that the federal government continue to fund healthcare for illegal immigrants, but Trump has his own plans to further his policy priorities if that happens.

An Office of Management and Budget memo from the White House that was shared with Politico earlier this week instructed agencies to prepare for mass firings of federal workers if the shutdown occurs.  

Employees working in programs that are not legally required to continue were especially targeted by the memo, which said that only the minimum number of employees required to keep things going should be retained.

The reduction in force (RIF) would be permanent and would ostensibly add to hundreds of billions of dollars in savings realized by DOGE during President Donald Trump's first few months in office.

"Insane demands"

The memo places blame for the shutdown squarely on the Democrats' shoulders.

It reads,

Over the past 10 fiscal years, Congress has consistently passed Continuing Resolutions (CRs) on or by
September 30 on a bipartisan basis. Unfortunately, congressional Democrats are signaling that they
intend to break this bipartisan trend and shut down the government in the coming days over a series of
insane demands, including $1 trillion in new spending.

Last week, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 5371, a clean CR that would fund the government
at current levels through November 21. The Administration supports Senate passage of H.R. 5371, but
congressional Democrats are currently blocking this clean CR due to their partisan demands.

Some programs will no longer be funded after September 30, and these are the ones that will see the most RIF firings, according to the memo:

With respect to those Federal programs whose funding would lapse and which are otherwise
unfunded, such programs are no longer statutorily required to be carried out. Therefore, consistent
with applicable law, including the requirements of 5 C.F.R. part 351, agencies are directed to use this
opportunity to consider Reduction in Force (RIF) notices for all employees in programs, projects, or
activities (PPAs) that satisfy all three of the following conditions: (1) discretionary funding lapses on
October 1, 2025; (2) another source of funding, such as H.R. 1 (Public Law 119-21) is not currently
available; and (3) the PPA is not consistent with the President’s priorities.

The memo clearly states that Trump and Republicans hope a clean CR passes the Senate before September 30.

But not everyone feels this way. John Nolte of Breitbart wrote in response to the news: "So, let’s all do our part to encourage Democrats to shut down the government."

Win-win for Republicans

Trump's plan makes the situation a win-win for Republicans.

If the shutdown happens, Trump can make good on more spending cuts.

If it doesn't, Trump will get credit for keeping the government going and preventing another $1 trillion from going down the tubes.

Furthermore, the plan for mass firings will put massive pressure on Democrats to acede to Republicans' demands so that a shutdown doesn't take place.

Either way, Trump gets stuff that he wants, and Democrats cannot be happy about that.