A government shutdown, which is scheduled to begin at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday unless Congress can work out a funding deal, could have more permanent impacts than previous funding lapses.

The White House Office of Management and Budget issued a memo this week directing agencies to prepare for workers not to just be furloughed but fired en masse if there is no temporary funding deal.

“Programs that did not benefit from an infusion of mandatory appropriations will bear the brunt of a shutdown,” the memo said, according to Politico .

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said the threat of mass firings is “an attempt at intimidation.”

“Donald Trump has been firing federal workers since day one — not to govern, but to scare,” the New York Democrat said in a statement. “This is nothing new

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