Washington DC - President Donald Trump signaled Thursday that he plans to follow through on his threat of mass layoffs for federal workers as he ratcheted pressure on Democrats to end the government shutdown on his terms.

The Republican announced he would meet budget chief Russell Vought "to determine which of the many Democrat Agencies, most of which are a political SCAM, he recommends to be cut, and whether or not those cuts will be temporary or permanent."

Trump's announcement in a Truth Social post came with the government entering the second day of a stoppage that is expected to see 750,000 employees being sent home without pay across a wide range of agencies.

Vought told House Republicans on Wednesday many of those workers would be targeted for permanent layoffs to be announced in the next day or two, echoing White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt's https://www.tag24.com/politics/us-politics/government-shutdown-to-last-for-days-as-white-house-warns-of-imminent-layoffs-3425259warning that firings were "imminent."

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Leavitt told reporters on Thursday the job cuts were likely going to number "in the thousands."

Trump has emphasized that he views cutbacks as a way of increasing pain on Democrats, arguing that "we can do things during the shutdown that are irreversible, that are bad for them and irreversible by them."

Senate Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and his House counterpart Hakeem Jeffries have dismissed the job cuts threat as an attempt at intimidation and said mass firings would not stand up in court.

Two Senate Democrats and an independent who votes with the party have broken with their colleagues, but the rest have been voting against a House-passed resolution to keep the government funded at current levels through November 21.

"This is day two of Donald Trump's shutdown, but it's day 256 of the chaos that the Trump presidency has unleashed on the American people," Jeffries told a news conference at the US Capitol on Thursday.

The House minority leader accused Republicans of shutting down the federal government because "they don't want to provide health care to working-class Americans."

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Although House Republicans were on holiday, Jeffries said Democrats were ready and willing "to sit down with anyone, any time, any place" – including with Trump and Vice President JD Vance, "to try to find a path forward."

Speaker Mike Johnson, whose members have been off all week, told reporters Senate leaders need to stick to an initial plan to work through the weekend in Washington.

"And the House is coming back next week, hoping that they will be sending us something to work on, that we can get back to work and do the people's business," he told a news conference at the Capitol.

For now, Democrats are dug in on their demands for extending health care subsidies before they will agree to a funding deal.