The U.S. government has officially entered a shutdown, bringing with it the rising threat of mass federal layoffs and cuts to safety-net programs.

In the final hours before funding lapsed, President Donald Trump escalated the stakes, warning that the administration might exploit the shutdown to enact “irreversible” cuts to health care and social benefit programs.

“We can do things during the shutdown that are irreversible, that are bad for them,” Trump told reporters on Tuesday, referring to Democrats. “Like cutting vast numbers of people out (…) cutting programs that they like.”

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The scale of potential impact is staggering. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has estimated that up to 750,000 federal employees could be furloughed each day the shutdown persists. The cost

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