President Donald Trump has threatened to fire federal employees if Democrats don’t cave to Republican demands and pass a GOP funding plan to keep the federal government open past Tuesday.

The president is set to meet with congressional leaders of both parties on Monday after blowing off an initial meeting with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, both of New York.

Despite the meeting, Trump told NBC News that a shutdown was still a “possibility” and warned that Republicans would use a federal closure to permanently fire federal employees instead of just putting them on temporary furlough.

“If there is [a shutdown], we are going to cut a lot of the people that ... we’re able to cut on a permanent basis, and we will be doing that,” he said. “I

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