Government Shutdown - Sep 2025 Thread

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Vought knows how to work within the rules to achieve his objectives. It would be silly to underestimate him. He will take the civil service system where he wants to take it and it will be upheld by every court.

He thought he could punk Congress with his pocket rescissions and got played bc even the White House realized you can’t withhold half the government’s funding and get away with it. So now they’ll try to fire all the staff associated with those programs because oops if you don’t have the staff to run the programs (bc let’s face it-they will be funded once the full year bill does get enacted), then you can’t get the money out the door bc no ppl there to do the work. What I’d like to know is who hurt this person to the point where they ended up so evil?

Pocket rescissions or not, a ton of appropriated funds have not been spent. 250M from a program at my agency have vanished with no accounting. Appropriators are being kept in the dark. Three more days and he will get away with it. He is clever, I'll give him that. He's been biding his time for 20+ years and knows every trick in the book.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Vought knows how to work within the rules to achieve his objectives. It would be silly to underestimate him. He will take the civil service system where he wants to take it and it will be upheld by every court.

He thought he could punk Congress with his pocket rescissions and got played bc even the White House realized you can’t withhold half the government’s funding and get away with it. So now they’ll try to fire all the staff associated with those programs because oops if you don’t have the staff to run the programs (bc let’s face it-they will be funded once the full year bill does get enacted), then you can’t get the money out the door bc no ppl there to do the work. What I’d like to know is who hurt this person to the point where they ended up so evil?

He’s such an ugly, bitter soul. I predict he’s going to spend much of his life alone after all of this, if he isn’t already. He claims to be a Christian, but he’s making his own personal Hell. He’ll wake up too late one day and realize he’s really his own worst enemy.

[Anonymous]

Really? Not Vought, the unelected moron who is the one threatening to destroy the livelihoods of American families? When no other lapse in funding has ever required firing 90% of the government? You MAGA are really dim bulbs.

Not MAGA. I am a federal lawyer married to a disabled veteran, and I am a disaffected Dem who is profoundly disappointed in how feckless and weak the Dems are. During the DOGE cuts, they held hands and chanted. There were some strongly worded letters. Some wholly ineffectual press appearances, because they all apparently have lost the ability to talk like normal people without using Hill speak. Otherwise they approved nominees and went along as if things were normal and the government wasn’t being gutted.

And now they are taking a stand in a way that (1) is utterly pointless and (2) will hurt MORE federal workers? I don’t give a good g—-mn who is to blame here, I want the government to stay open. Things were starting to normalize, a little, and this puts us back into RIFs and mass firings. We have been through enough this year and I’m not willing to sacrifice a single paycheck so that Schumer can make himself feel better about being weak and weasely and unsuited to leadership.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Really? Not Vought, the unelected moron who is the one threatening to destroy the livelihoods of American families? When no other lapse in funding has ever required firing 90% of the government? You MAGA are really dim bulbs.

Not MAGA. I am a federal lawyer married to a disabled veteran, and I am a disaffected Dem who is profoundly disappointed in how feckless and weak the Dems are. During the DOGE cuts, they held hands and chanted. There were some strongly worded letters. Some wholly ineffectual press appearances, because they all apparently have lost the ability to talk like normal people without using Hill speak. Otherwise they approved nominees and went along as if things were normal and the government wasn’t being gutted.

And now they are taking a stand in a way that (1) is utterly pointless and (2) will hurt MORE federal workers? I don’t give a good g—-mn who is to blame here, I want the government to stay open. Things were starting to normalize, a little, and this puts us back into RIFs and mass firings. We have been through enough this year and I’m not willing to sacrifice a single paycheck so that Schumer can make himself feel better about being weak and weasely and unsuited to leadership.

+ 100

Jeffries asinine new “messaging” shared via his punchbowl interview “cancel the cuts. Lower the cost. Save healthcare.” Lower the…cost of the BBB? Of the tariffs and inflation? I’m a Dem but they do not have their stuff together and this is ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Really? Not Vought, the unelected moron who is the one threatening to destroy the livelihoods of American families? When no other lapse in funding has ever required firing 90% of the government? You MAGA are really dim bulbs.

Not MAGA. I am a federal lawyer married to a disabled veteran, and I am a disaffected Dem who is profoundly disappointed in how feckless and weak the Dems are. During the DOGE cuts, they held hands and chanted. There were some strongly worded letters. Some wholly ineffectual press appearances, because they all apparently have lost the ability to talk like normal people without using Hill speak. Otherwise they approved nominees and went along as if things were normal and the government wasn’t being gutted.

And now they are taking a stand in a way that (1) is utterly pointless and (2) will hurt MORE federal workers? I don’t give a good g—-mn who is to blame here, I want the government to stay open. Things were starting to normalize, a little, and this puts us back into RIFs and mass firings. We have been through enough this year and I’m not willing to sacrifice a single paycheck so that Schumer can make himself feel better about being weak and weasely and unsuited to leadership.

If any of that is true, then you should understand that it is important to not give in to bullies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Really? Not Vought, the unelected moron who is the one threatening to destroy the livelihoods of American families? When no other lapse in funding has ever required firing 90% of the government? You MAGA are really dim bulbs.

Not MAGA. I am a federal lawyer married to a disabled veteran, and I am a disaffected Dem who is profoundly disappointed in how feckless and weak the Dems are. During the DOGE cuts, they held hands and chanted. There were some strongly worded letters. Some wholly ineffectual press appearances, because they all apparently have lost the ability to talk like normal people without using Hill speak. Otherwise they approved nominees and went along as if things were normal and the government wasn’t being gutted.

And now they are taking a stand in a way that (1) is utterly pointless and (2) will hurt MORE federal workers? I don’t give a good g—-mn who is to blame here, I want the government to stay open. Things were starting to normalize, a little, and this puts us back into RIFs and mass firings. We have been through enough this year and I’m not willing to sacrifice a single paycheck so that Schumer can make himself feel better about being weak and weasely and unsuited to leadership.

If any of that is true, then you should understand that it is important to not give in to bullies.

I’m confused how PP’s comment - about how they have done nothing but continually given in to bullies - makes the point that THIS is the stand to take? They do nothing but roll over. Why now? Why THIS fight? They don’t have a clear path out of shutdown other than capitulating in a few weeks. GOP doesn’t care if there is a long shut down.

[Anonymous]

So what is the most likely outcome here? Do seven Senate Dems cave at the last minute and agree to the extension? Will there actually be mass layoffs?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Really? Not Vought, the unelected moron who is the one threatening to destroy the livelihoods of American families? When no other lapse in funding has ever required firing 90% of the government? You MAGA are really dim bulbs.

Not MAGA. I am a federal lawyer married to a disabled veteran, and I am a disaffected Dem who is profoundly disappointed in how feckless and weak the Dems are. During the DOGE cuts, they held hands and chanted. There were some strongly worded letters. Some wholly ineffectual press appearances, because they all apparently have lost the ability to talk like normal people without using Hill speak. Otherwise they approved nominees and went along as if things were normal and the government wasn’t being gutted.

And now they are taking a stand in a way that (1) is utterly pointless and (2) will hurt MORE federal workers? I don’t give a good g—-mn who is to blame here, I want the government to stay open. Things were starting to normalize, a little, and this puts us back into RIFs and mass firings. We have been through enough this year and I’m not willing to sacrifice a single paycheck so that Schumer can make himself feel better about being weak and weasely and unsuited to leadership.

If any of that is true, then you should understand that it is important to not give in to bullies.

I’m confused how PP’s comment - about how they have done nothing but continually given in to bullies - makes the point that THIS is the stand to take? They do nothing but roll over. Why now? Why THIS fight? They don’t have a clear path out of shutdown other than capitulating in a few weeks. GOP doesn’t care if there is a long shut down.

+1 from a DP. A shutdown now is just a noisy distraction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So what is the most likely outcome here? Do seven Senate Dems cave at the last minute and agree to the extension? Will there actually be mass layoffs?

Democrats are like petulant children. They’re having a tantrum but will eventually yield to Daddy Donald. Unfortunately, it could be weeks until Democrats see the error of their ways.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So what is the most likely outcome here? Do seven Senate Dems cave at the last minute and agree to the extension? Will there actually be mass layoffs?

Democrats are like petulant children. They’re having a tantrum but will eventually yield to Daddy Donald. Unfortunately, it could be weeks until Democrats see the error of their ways.

So y’all want the Democrats to just sign off on a bill in which they’ve had no input, no discussions , no consideration. It’s all MAGA in the appropriations bill, but that’s okay. Just say yay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Vought knows how to work within the rules to achieve his objectives. It would be silly to underestimate him. He will take the civil service system where he wants to take it and it will be upheld by every court.

He thought he could punk Congress with his pocket rescissions and got played bc even the White House realized you can’t withhold half the government’s funding and get away with it. So now they’ll try to fire all the staff associated with those programs because oops if you don’t have the staff to run the programs (bc let’s face it-they will be funded once the full year bill does get enacted), then you can’t get the money out the door bc no ppl there to do the work. What I’d like to know is who hurt this person to the point where they ended up so evil?

Pocket rescissions or not, a ton of appropriated funds have not been spent. 250M from a program at my agency have vanished with no accounting. Appropriators are being kept in the dark. Three more days and he will get away with it. He is clever, I'll give him that. He's been biding his time for 20+ years and knows every trick in the book.

Yep - I don't know how the story that 'appropriated money has disappeared and no one can find it' isn't all over the news', except that it's wonky and hard to explain.

https://www.notus.org/trump-white-house/billions-taxpayer-dollars-virtually-untraceable-appropriations-trump-omb-russ-vought

But it is extremely alarming. I would like the government to stay open but any amount of Democrat cooperation to vote to continue the status quo seems, to me, disqualifying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So what is the most likely outcome here? Do seven Senate Dems cave at the last minute and agree to the extension? Will there actually be mass layoffs?

Democrats are like petulant children. They’re having a tantrum but will eventually yield to Daddy Donald. Unfortunately, it could be weeks until Democrats see the error of their ways.

So y’all want the Democrats to just sign off on a bill in which they’ve had no input, no discussions , no consideration. It’s all MAGA in the appropriations bill, but that’s okay. Just say yay.

Republicans are in the majority. They own all consequences of OBBBA, good or bad. The only reason why we are having this discussion is the filibuster which should be nuked. Dems never had a good hand. They should have simply held a vote a rama on the a house bill to highlight some consequences and called it a day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Really? Not Vought, the unelected moron who is the one threatening to destroy the livelihoods of American families? When no other lapse in funding has ever required firing 90% of the government? You MAGA are really dim bulbs.

Not MAGA. I am a federal lawyer married to a disabled veteran, and I am a disaffected Dem who is profoundly disappointed in how feckless and weak the Dems are. During the DOGE cuts, they held hands and chanted. There were some strongly worded letters. Some wholly ineffectual press appearances, because they all apparently have lost the ability to talk like normal people without using Hill speak. Otherwise they approved nominees and went along as if things were normal and the government wasn’t being gutted.

And now they are taking a stand in a way that (1) is utterly pointless and (2) will hurt MORE federal workers? I don’t give a good g—-mn who is to blame here, I want the government to stay open. Things were starting to normalize, a little, and this puts us back into RIFs and mass firings. We have been through enough this year and I’m not willing to sacrifice a single paycheck so that Schumer can make himself feel better about being weak and weasely and unsuited to leadership.

If any of that is true, then you should understand that it is important to not give in to bullies.

I’m confused how PP’s comment - about how they have done nothing but continually given in to bullies - makes the point that THIS is the stand to take? They do nothing but roll over. Why now? Why THIS fight? They don’t have a clear path out of shutdown other than capitulating in a few weeks. GOP doesn’t care if there is a long shut down.

This is the only time they can even fight back.

[Anonymous]

sign off on a bill in which they’ve had no input, no discussions , no consideration

This is a clean CR - i.e., continuing the last Biden-era budget for 7 more weeks so appropriators can come to an agreement and an actual budget can be passed (in theory). Rescissions will need to be fought in the courts, not through a shutdown, and sorry, the Medicaid subsidy cuts were part of the OBBB Act. If people did not want that, they should have spoken out during the OBBB Act debate. The CR is not the correct vehicle, and federal workers should not have to bear the brunt of this yet again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Really? Not Vought, the unelected moron who is the one threatening to destroy the livelihoods of American families? When no other lapse in funding has ever required firing 90% of the government? You MAGA are really dim bulbs.

Not MAGA. I am a federal lawyer married to a disabled veteran, and I am a disaffected Dem who is profoundly disappointed in how feckless and weak the Dems are. During the DOGE cuts, they held hands and chanted. There were some strongly worded letters. Some wholly ineffectual press appearances, because they all apparently have lost the ability to talk like normal people without using Hill speak. Otherwise they approved nominees and went along as if things were normal and the government wasn’t being gutted.

And now they are taking a stand in a way that (1) is utterly pointless and (2) will hurt MORE federal workers? I don’t give a good g—-mn who is to blame here, I want the government to stay open. Things were starting to normalize, a little, and this puts us back into RIFs and mass firings. We have been through enough this year and I’m not willing to sacrifice a single paycheck so that Schumer can make himself feel better about being weak and weasely and unsuited to leadership.

If any of that is true, then you should understand that it is important to not give in to bullies.

I’m confused how PP’s comment - about how they have done nothing but continually given in to bullies - makes the point that THIS is the stand to take? They do nothing but roll over. Why now? Why THIS fight? They don’t have a clear path out of shutdown other than capitulating in a few weeks. GOP doesn’t care if there is a long shut down.

A million times this. It is obscenely poor strategy to throw down now.