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As the US government shutdown approached its third day, President Donald Trump indicated that he and his budget director would identify “Democrat Agencies” for potential cuts.
He suggested Republicans should leverage the situation to “clear out dead wood,” offering no indication of compromise on Democratic demands to include healthcare insurance subsidies in government funding legislation.
On Capitol Hill, Republicans and Democrats continued to trade blame for the failure to maintain federal agency operations.
Hundreds of thousands of federal employees are currently furloughed, while others are working without pay. Certain federal attractions have closed to the public, while others, such as the Statue of Liberty, have remained open.
Analysts suggest that neither side is likely to concede without significant public pressure, as most Americans have yet to experience direct consequences from the shutdown.
The specific actions Trump might take following Thursday’s meeting with Russell Vought, director of the US Office of Management and Budget (OMB), remained unclear.
When Congress fails to appropriate funds for government operations, the OMB director collaborates with the president to determine which activities should be suspended and which are deemed essential.
The OMB then instructs federal agencies regarding which employees will be placed on furlough, resulting in unpaid leave.
On the first day of the shutdown, Vought announced that the White House had initiated the process of pausing or canceling billions of dollars in funding allocated for Democratic states, including $18 billion in infrastructure projects in New York, the home state of Senator Chuck Schumer and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
Bipartisan agreement is necessary to pass legislation that would reopen the government.
Republicans require the support of eight Democratic senators, while Democrats need 13 Republican votes. Only three Democrats joined Republicans in the most recent unsuccessful Senate vote on Wednesday.
Lawmakers are expected to make another attempt to resolve the impasse with a Senate vote on Friday afternoon.
Republicans seek to pass a funding measure without amendments, while Democrats insist on including a renewal of health insurance subsidies for low-income individuals, which are set to expire at the end of the year.
During dueling press conferences on Capitol Hill on Thursday, neither party signaled a willingness to compromise.
House Speaker Mike Johnson labeled Democrats “selfish,” characterized the situation as a “Democrat shutdown,” and stated that he would not negotiate the inclusion of insurance subsidies or other measures in government funding.
Jeffries accused Republicans of neglecting the healthcare needs of working-class Americans and dismissed Trump’s threats to terminate federal employees as redundant, asserting, “They have been firing federal employees all along.”
Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist University Institute for Public Opinion, noted that his polling data suggests Americans are largely divided along party lines in assigning blame for the shutdown.
According to Miringoff, majorities of Democratic and Republican respondents attributed blame to the opposing party, while 41% of independents believed both parties shared responsibility equally.
“Both of the parties have mastered the finger-pointing, and all we’re left with is a growing number of people think the country is headed in the wrong direction,” Miringoff said.
He anticipated that Americans would pressure Congress to reopen the government, but only after experiencing the direct consequences of the shutdown in their own lives.
As political rhetoric intensified, US government services began to experience disruptions, and thousands of federal employees were placed on furlough.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that approximately 750,000 federal workers would be placed on unpaid leave.
Federal employees designated as “essential,” including over 200,000 law enforcement officers, continued to work without pay.
Air traffic controllers and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) personnel are considered essential, and air travel is not expected to be immediately affected.
During previous shutdowns, an increase in sick calls among these employees resulted in delays at major airports.
Tourists were denied access to museums in Washington and New York, including Federal Hall in Manhattan.
A manager informed the BBC that the building was closed, similar to other federal monuments.
George Washington was inaugurated as the first US president at that location in 1789. The historic building, now a museum, also housed the first Congress and Supreme Court.
However, not all monuments are closed.
Elsewhere in New York, the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island remained open, “thanks to the leadership of President Donald J Trump,” according to a Department of the Interior spokesperson who spoke with the BBC.
The Smithsonian Institution, which comprises over a dozen museums and attractions that welcomed nearly 17 million visitors last year, informed the BBC that it had sufficient funding to remain open for one week.
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