The cybersecurity divisions of the Treasury Department, the U.S. Health Service, the Internal Revenue Service, the Education Department, the Department of Commerce and the Department of Homeland Security are cutting jobs, according to a spokesperson, but the total amount of the cuts was not immediately clear. According to Reuters, about 300,000 federal civil servants are already scheduled to leave their jobs this year due to a job cuts campaign launched by President Trump earlier this year.
“They started this thing,” Trump told reporters during an Oval Office event, calling the cuts “pro-Democratic.”
President Trump’s Republicans hold majorities in both houses of Congress, but they need Democratic votes in the Senate to pass legislation funding the government.
Democrats have advocated extending health insurance subsidies, arguing that it would dramatically increase health care costs for many of the 24 million Americans insured through the Affordable Care Act.
President Trump has repeatedly threatened to fire federal workers in the government shutdown stalemate, which is in its 10th day on Friday, suggesting his administration will target parts of the government that are primarily backed by Democrats.
Trump also ordered the freezing of at least $28 billion in infrastructure funds in New York, California and Illinois, home to significant numbers of Democratic voters and critics of his administration.
More than 4,200 federal employees have received layoff notices across seven government agencies, including more than 1,400 at the Treasury Department and at least 1,100 at the Department of Health and Human Services, the Justice Department said in a court filing.
Democrats said they would not bow to President Trump’s pressure tactics.
Master’s degree/PR