Trump using the shutdown to trim government spending

We have seen government shutdowns before, but not like this one.

What I mean by that is that Trump is going to do what no president has done before him… trim down the government.

While this is being litigated, Trump is going forward full bore.

Trimming it down

Trump warned Democrats that if this shutdown lasted any significant length of time, he was going to use it to trim down agencies and start getting rid of excess staffing in the government.

Now heading into its full third week, Trump has pulled the trigger, targeting HHS, the IRS, and the Department of Education, just to name a few. In all, about 30 agencies were being targeted to get trimmed down by Trump.

For instance, HHS announced, “All HHS employees receiving reduction-in-force notices were designated non-essential by their respective divisions. HHS continues to close wasteful and duplicative entities, including those that are at odds with the Trump administration’s Make America Healthy Again agenda.”

Roughly 1,100 or so staffers were going to be cut from that agency alone.

Blocked

Enter US District Judge Susan Illston, a Bill Clinton appointee, who just blocked Trump from firing those staffers.

Roughly 4,000 workers have been laid off so far, stating that Trump has used the government shutdown unlawfully to eliminate these positions.

The judge also accused the administration of making their firings politically motivated, referencing statements made by Trump and White House's budget chief, Russell Vought, as proof of that claim.

Trump will surely appeal the ruling, but for now, the firing frenzy has been halted.

Recent history of shutdowns

During the Clinton administration, the government was shut down twice, but mass layoffs were never part of the picture.

There was another shutdown during the Obama administration, with Obama refusing to budge on Obamacare. And Donald Trump had a shutdown during his first term, the longest we have ever had, which lasted for 35 days.

That shutdown was primarily over border security funding, and while Trump got more than $1 billion for his wall, it was largely considered a stalemate.

This time, however, is different, as both sides have decided to dig in, damn the consequences, but Trump, as noted above, has a purpose. This time, he wants to use the shutdown to eliminate what he deems to be wasteful agencies and positions in our government. While I once thought this would be over relatively quickly, I now think Trump may set a new record, as there appears to be no end in sight this time.