Trump swings axe at ‘Democrat Agencies’ as shutdown blame game intensifies

President Donald Trump has stated that he and his budget director will determine which “Democrat Agencies” to eliminate as the US government shutdown nears its third day.

He indicated that Republicans ought to take advantage of this moment to “remove dead weight” and did not provide any indication of compromises to Democratic requests that the government funding legislation should encompass healthcare insurance subsidies.

On Capitol Hill, Republicans and Democrats continued to cast blame at each other for the inability to keep federal agencies operational.

Hundreds of thousands of federal employees are absent from work, while some are laboring without compensation. Certain federal attractions have closed their doors, while others, including the Statue of Liberty, remained accessible to visitors.

Experts do not anticipate either party to yield without pressure from average Americans, the majority of whom have yet to experience direct consequences in their lives.

The specifics of what Trump might resolve in Thursday’s discussion with Russell Vought, director of the US Office of Management and Budget (OMB), remained uncertain.

When Congress fails to sustain the US government’s operation, the OMB director collaborates with the president to decide which governmental functions should halt and which are essential.

It then provides guidance to federal agencies regarding which personnel to furlough, which entails unpaid leave.

On the initial day of the shutdown, Vought remarked that the White House had acted to freeze or cancel billions of dollars in financing designated for Democratic states, including $18bn (£13.4bn) earmarked for infrastructure initiatives in New York, where Senator Chuck Schumer and House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries are based.

Both factions must collaborate to advance legislation if the government is to resume operations.

Republicans require eight Democratic senators to support them, while Democrats need 13 Republicans to back their efforts. Only three Democrats joined Republicans in the last unsuccessful Senate vote on Wednesday.

Legislators are anticipated to make another attempt on Friday afternoon to settle the deadlock with a Senate vote.

Republicans wish to pass a funding bill without any attachments, whereas Democrats seek to incorporate a renewal of healthcare subsidies for low-income individuals scheduled to expire at year-end.

In competing press briefings on Capitol Hill on Thursday, neither party seemed inclined to compromise.

House Speaker Mike Johnson labeled Democrats as “selfish,” referred to it as the “Democrat shutdown,” and asserted that he would not negotiate over including insurance subsidies or other proposals in government funding.

Jeffries alleged that Republicans were unwilling to provide healthcare for working-class Americans and dismissed Trump’s threats to terminate more federal employees as futile. He emphasized: “They have been dismissing federal workers all along.”

Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist University Institute for Public Opinion, stated that his polls indicated Americans were largely divided along party lines regarding fault for the shutdown.

Majorities from both Democratic and Republican polling participants attributed blame to the opposing party for the shutdown, while 41% of independents stated both parties were equally responsible.

“Both parties have become experts in pointing fingers, and all that remains is an increasing number of individuals who believe the country is moving in the wrong direction,” Miringoff remarked.

He anticipated that Americans would urge Congress to reopen the government – but only after they witness the shutdown’s impacts in their personal lives.

As legislators exchanged insults, US government services began to come to a standstill and numerous federal workers stayed home.

An estimated 750,000 federal workers were anticipated to face unpaid leave, according to estimates from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

Federal employees categorized as “essential” continued to work, albeit without remuneration. This group includes over 200,000 law enforcement officials.

Air traffic controllers and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) personnel are classified as essential, so air travel will not be immediately disrupted.

During the previous shutdown, these workers increasingly began to report sick, causing delays at major airports.

Visitors were turned away from museums in Washington and New York, including Federal Hall in Manhattan.

A manager informed the BBC that the building was shut down like other federal monuments.

George Washington, the first president of the US, took the oath of office there in 1789. Now a museum, the historic site was also home to the first Congress and Supreme Court.

However, not all monuments are inaccessible.

In different parts of New York, the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island stayed open, “thanks to the leadership of President Donald J Trump,” stated a spokesperson from the Department of the Interior to the BBC.

The Smithsonian, which encompasses over a dozen museums and attractions that attracted nearly 17 million visitors last year, informed the BBC that it had sufficient funds to remain operational for a week.