GOP senators back Russ Vought's hardball shutdown strategy as standoff intensifies
Alex Miller
Senate Republicans are taking a hands-off approach to threats from White House budget chief Russ Vought, arguing that his pressure on Senate Democrats to reopen the government, for now, is warranted.
Away from the gridlock on Capitol Hill, Vought, who is the director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), has made moves to pressure Senate Democrats, led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to reopen the government.
Before the shutdown started earlier this month, the OMB released a memo to government agencies instructing mass firings beyond the typical furloughs of nonessential employees during government shutdowns. He has since withheld nearly $30 billion in infrastructure funding to blue states and cities.
And earlier this week, a memo circulated around the White House that suggested that furloughed employees would not receive back pay when the government reopened — a move that runs counter to a law signed by President Donald Trump in 2019.
"We heard earlier, right at the beginning of the shutdown, that we may see some terminations, some firings within the department," Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, told Fox News Digital. "We saw a lot of big numbers kind of thrown around, and they haven't materialized, which I think is good, but certainly what it does, it's very unsettling."
The administration’s latest actions come as conversations on a path out of the shutdown have been ongoing. For now, Republicans don’t believe that Vought’s moves are undercutting those talks.
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https://www.foxnews.com/politics/gop-senators-back-russ-voughts-hardball-shutdown-strategy-standoff-intensifies
