USA TODAY National
WASHINGTON ‒ The federal government shutdown reached Day Two on Thursday, Oct. 2, as President Donald Trump said he would decide which "Democrat Agencies" to close and congressional Republicans and Democrats showed no signs of ending their impasse over funding the government.
White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt later said Trump would use the shutdown to cut “agencies and programs that do not align with the Administration’s policies and values.”
Trump has already frozen federal transit and green energy funding for Democratic-leaning states and has threatened mass firings of federal workers. "I can’t believe the Radical Left Democrats gave me this unprecedented opportunity," he said on social media.
Hanging over the stalemate is Trump’s threat to cull federal workers. White House officials warned mass firings are “imminent” under a shutdown. Russell Vought, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, told Republican lawmakers in a private call on Oct. 1 that mass reductions in force will begin in “a day or two.”
The main sticking point remains Democratic demands to restore funding to Medicaid and Obamacare after cuts Trump signed into law this year that the Congressional Budget Office says will leave 10.9 million people without health insurance. Republicans want to keep the government operating at existing funding levels, but they lack a filibuster-proof 60 votes in the Senate despite their majority.
Trump doubles down on threat to fire workers, cut programs
President Donald Trump doubled down on his threats to cut federal programs and fire workers across the federal government if the shutdown continues.
“There could be firings – and that’s their fault,” Trump, referring to Democrats, said in an interview with the conservative television network OAN. “And it could also be other things. We could cut projects that they wanted, favorite projects, and they’d be permanently cut.”
The interview, which was conducted Wednesday, aired Thursday evening. Earlier on Thursday, Trump said he planned to meet with Russell Vought, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, to decide which “Democrat agencies” of the federal government to close.
“A lot of people are saying, ‘Trump wanted this.’ That I wanted this closing,” Trump said in the television interview. “And I didn’t want it. But a lot of people are saying it because I’m allowed to cut things that should have never been approved in the first place. And I will probably do that.”
--Joey Garrison
White House ballroom work continues amid shutdown
Government shutdown or not, construction on President Trump’s pet project, a 90,000-square-foot ballroom replacing a large part of the East Wing, is continuing apace.
The $200 million dollar project, unveiled in July, will feature gilded interiors and seat 900 people.
A White House official told USA TODAY that because the project is being sponsored by Trump and private donors, it is not impacted by the shutdown.
Construction began in September and is expected to be completed before the end of Trump’s term in 2028.
--Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy
Government out-of-office emails blame Dems for shutdown
Official email accounts at the U.S. Department of Education began sending out-of-office messages are pointing fingers at Democrats for the funding crisis.
"Thank you for contacting me," said one message. "On September 19, 2025, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 5371, a clean continuing resolution. Unfortunately, Democrat Senators are blocking passage of H.R. 5371 in the Senate which has led to a lapse in appropriations."
The automatic response is the latest example of the Trump administration using the formal levers of government in new, controversial ways to pressure Democrats to end the shutdown. Other federal agencies have crafted similarly partisan messages from the typically apolitical civil service amid a legislative standoff largely over disagreements related to health care cuts.
--Zachary Schermele
Senate will vote to end shutdown but outcome is uncertain
The Senate will vote again Oct. 3 on whether to end the shutdown and reopen the government.
A series of votes is scheduled at 1:30 p.m., including one on the measure to extend funding temporarily until Nov. 21.
But two previous votes of 55-45 on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1 failed to advance the legislation, which needs a 60-vote majority.
Three senators who caucus with Democrats – John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada and Angus King of Maine – joined Republicans in supporting the bill. But GOP needs five more Democrats.
--Bart Jansen
Whither the Smithsonian Panda Cam?
The Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington, D.C., is still running its Giant Panda Cam, a live broadcast featuring pandas Bao Li and Qing Bao, on its website despite the government being shut down.
The camera shows images of the pandas' living quarters as well as occasional appearances of the animals themselves. The camera is live from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. eastern time daily, according to the Smithsonian’s website.
The Smithsonian, a federal government entity, says on its website that it will use money from the last fiscal year’s budget to stay open at least through Monday, Oct. 6.
--Sudiksha Kochi and Erin Mansfield
HUD Secretary not 'at all' worried partisan messages break the law
The Department of Housing and Urban Development’s aggressive messaging about the shutdown on its website, blasting the “radical left,” has drawn complaints from Democrats about its legality.
But HUD Secretary Scott Turner told NewsNation he’s not “at all” worried.
The 1939 Hatch Act limits the political activities of federal employees. Democrats have pointed to the law to criticize the Trump administration for using official government channels to blast a highly partisan message.
"I’ve heard all the cries and the outcry and people saying this is propaganda, that it’s a violation of the Hatch Act," Turner said, calling the criticism an effort by "Democrats and the far left" to distract from their "irresponsible actions."
The HUD website currently states: “The Radical Left in Congress shut down the government. HUD will use available resources to help Americans in need.”
--Zac Anderson
More Americans blame Trump and GOP for shutdown, poll says
Close to half of Americans blame President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans for the government partially shutting down, according to a new poll.
In a survey conducted by the Washington Post on Oct. 1 – the first day of the shutdown – 47% said they blamed Trump and Republicans in Congress for the ongoing impasse that has left thousands of federal workers without pay and halted various government activities.
Another 30% blame the crisis on congressional Democrats, and 23% said they were "not sure" when asked who they think is "mainly responsible" for the shutdown.
--Kathryn Palmer
How does the government shutdown impact WIC?
If the shutdown continues, the WIC nutritional program will likely run out of funding within one or two weeks, National WIC Association President and CEO Georgia Machell said in a Sept. 30 news release.
Until then, WIC will continue operating under available funding, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) contingency plan.
WIC is a federal nutrition program that provides food, education and counseling to nearly 7 million at-risk pregnant, postpartum and breastfeeding mothers, as well as infants and children up to 5 years old.
WIC can "recover and reallocate unused grant funds from the previous fiscal year" for state-level activity, but federal activities will cease once funding is unavailable, the plan says.
--Greta Cross
What's behind White House claims of 'illegal' immigrants on Medicaid?
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt clarified the Trump administration’s opposition to immigrants participating in Medicaid after entering the country temporarily.
Leavitt said the Biden administration allowed in millions of immigrants under humanitarian “parole” or under temporary programs for economic or environmental crises in their home countries.
Administration officials have referred to these immigrants as “illegal,” but they were admitted under formal government programs.
“It was a complete abuse of our immigration system,” Leavitt told reporters Oct. 2 at the White House. “They slapped a Band-Aid. They called it Temporary Protected Status.”
The Biden administration admitted about 3 million immigrants under parole and 1.4 million from 16 countries were granted acceptance into Temporary Protected Status, according to House testimony and the Judiciary Committee.
“You know who would like free benefits? Hard-working Americans who work their butts off every day,” Leavitt said. “That is fundamentally unfair and this administration is not going to support it."
But immigrants admitted under parole of less than a year, those seeking asylum and those under Temporary Protected Status are generally barred from Medicaid, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service.
While undocumented immigrants are barred from receiving federal health benefits, eligible immigrants who are in the country legally make up 6% of the total enrollment in Medicaid and the CHIP child health care program, according to the health policy nonprofit KFF.
Senate Democrats are refusing to fund the government until majority Republicans restore cuts to Medicaid and Obamacare that the Congressional Budget Office says will end health insurance from 10.9 million people.
--Bart Jansen
Trump has power to fire workers, shutter agencies: Speaker Johnson
House Speaker Mike Johnson said President Trump was given “the keys to the kingdom” to lay off federal workers and close agencies during the shutdown.
“This is the way the system works,” Johnson, R-Louisiana, told reporters Oct. 2. “When Congress turns off the funding, and the funding runs out, it’s up to the commander in chief, the president of the United States, will determine how those resources will be spent.”
Johnson was asked if it was appropriate for Trump to target political opponents with spending cuts, after the administration halted $18 billion in funding for two New York City transit projects, a Second Avenue subway and Hudson River tunnel. New York is home of both congressional Democratic leaders, Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries.
“When they are tasked with determining what the priorities are, obviously they are going to follow their principles and priorities and not the other team,” Johnson said of Trump and the administration. “That’s the results of an election that everyone voted in.”
--Bart Jansen
Shutdown unlikely to end today
The Senate does not have votes scheduled Thursday in observance of Yom Kippur.
It is scheduled to return Friday, when Senate Majority Leader John Thune of North Dakota is expected to make his next attempt at passing the GOP spending bill.
Though the House is also expected to return Friday, the chamber has already passed the GOP bill and all action is expected to be on the Senate side of the Capitol building.
--Sarah D. Wire
Speaker Johnson urges colleagues to ignore sombreros
GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters he urged his Democratic counterpart, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, to ignore social-media memes he called “games” and “sideshows” to help reopen the government.
President Donald Trump had posted a clip of Jeffries at the White House wearing a fake sombrero and mustache, which Jeffries called racist. The White House ran the clip on a loop in the briefing room for hours on Oct. 1.
Johnson said all lawmakers become the butt of internet jokes. Johnson noted that California Gov. Gavin Newsom posted a meme of the speaker as a cartoon Minion.
“To my friend Hakeem: ‘Man, just ignore it,’” Johnson added. “Gavin Newsom was trolling me last night. He painted me like a Minion. He painted me yellow with big glasses and overalls. I thought it was hilarious. You don’t respond to it.”
--Bart Jansen
Prolonged shutdown could have a big impact on child care
Federal dollars and programs support child care facilities across the country, including Head Start and Child Care and Development Block Grants. Head Start programs with grant cycles that begin in October will likely experience disruptions in the short term, according to First Focus on Children, a bipartisan advocacy nonprofit focused on supports for women and children. A prolonged shutdown could mean shuttered classrooms.
Most federal Head Start programs are not likely to be impacted, said Sydney Petersen of the National Women’s Law Center. “But that could change if the shutdown drags on.” There are few Head Start programs – impacting roughly 6,500 children and families – that have funding cycles that began Oct. 1.
First Five Years Fund, another organization building federal support for early childhood learning programs, posted about the shutdown on Oct. 1 saying there is “cause for watchful concern but not for panic.” There’s unlikely to be disrupted child care services in the short term, the analysis reads, but “the longer a shutdown continues, the more likely it is that Head Start programs could see a disruption.”
Working caregivers are especially vulnerable to the effects of a government shutdown, according to research from the Society for Human Resource Management.
-- Madeline Mitchell
What’s open during a government shutdown?
There are some services that still remain open despite the government being shut down.
These include the U.S. postal service, banks, air-traffic control and courts. Federal law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, DEA and prison staff, will remain operational. The Secret Service and Coast Guard will continue their duties.
All active-duty personnel stay on the job, but nearly half of the Department of War's 741,477 civilian employees could face furloughs.
In general, national parks will remain open “park roads, lookouts, trails, and open-air memorials will generally remain accessible to visitors," according to the Department of Interior's contingency plan.
-- Sudiksha Kochi, Natalie Neysa Alund and Saman Shafiq
Some lawmakers request their pay be withheld while shutdown continues
Lawmakers will continue to receive paychecks during a shutdown under Article I, Section 6 of the U.S. Constitution, which protects Congress' pay.
But some members have said that they’ve requested that their pay be withheld until the shutdown is over. Pennsylvania Democratic Rep. Chrissy Houlahan wrote on X that she did not take a salary during the last government shutdown and won’t take one now.
Texas Republican Rep. Chip Roy and Pennsylvania Democratic Rep. Chris Deluzio posted images of letters they each wrote addressed to Catherine Szpindor, the chief administrative officer of the House, asking for their pay to be withheld.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt blasted Democratic lawmakers who continue to accept their salary while the shutdown will delay paychecks for 1.3 million active-duty military troops, 150,000 federal law enforcement officers and 13,000 air-traffic controllers until the spending dispute is resolved.
“I saw some Democrat members today saying they are still going to accept their paychecks because they have three kids at home and they have mouths to feed,” Leavitt told reporters Oct. 1. “Well, so do these federal workers who those same Democrats just voted to shut down the government and turn off their pay. We think that’s very unfair.”
-- Sudiksha Kochi and Bart Jansen
Trump looks to cut 'Democrat agencies'
President Donald Trump he would meet with Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought to determine which “Democrat Agencies” to eliminate to save money during the shutdown.
Trump has warned of “irreversible” cuts during the shutdown and “vast” layoffs will be easier to accomplish during the shutdown because there is no congressional spending legislation in place to fund the government. Vought helped draft a Project 2025 report with recommendations and widespread agency cuts.
“I can’t believe the Radical Left Democrats gave me this unprecedented opportunity,” Trump said in a social media post Oct. 2.--Bart Jansen
DOJ asks to delay court cases in shutdown
The Justice Department has begun asking federal courts to delay pending litigation during the shutdown by arguing that lawyers and other staffers are mostly forbidden from working even on a voluntary basis.
But lawyers opposing the government in at least two of the cases opposed the requests. One case involves Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Salvadoran immigrant fighting deportation to Eswatini. The other case involves DC trying to block President Donald Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops in the federal city.
Until Congress reaches a funding compromise to reopen the government, Justice lawyers and employees of federal defendants “are prohibited from working, even on a voluntary basis” except in “emergencies involving the safety of human life or the protection of property,” according to a filing led by Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate.
But he noted Garcia opposes the request.
U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis in Maryland set a hearing Oct. 24 to hear arguments about either blocking the deportation or dismissing the case – unless she grants the government’s request for a delay.
In the DC case, U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb set a series of filing deadlines this month Shumate asked to postpone. But DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb said the department’s shutdown guidance allows working on motions to block government actions despite a lapse in appropriations.
“This case is a poor candidate in which to make an exception from that approach,” Schwalb wrote in a filing. “More than 2,300 armed National Guard troops are currently patrolling the District unlawfully. That unprecedented deployment is inflicting irreparable harm to the District’s sovereignty, its economy, and public safety.”
--Bart Jansen
Trump takes back seat on first day of shutdown
Trump made no public appearances on the first day of the shutdown, with the White House instead deploying Vice President JD Vance to address the media. Vance blamed the “Chuck Schumer-AOC wing” of the Democratic Party for what he called a “Democrat shutdown.”
Vance called for Democrats to vote to reopen the government before and then engage later in separate negotiations over health-care policy. But Democrats in Congress continued to demand the reversal of Medicaid cuts that Republicans passed this year and the extension of health care subsidies be included in a funding measure.
“Donald Trump and Republicans shut the federal government down because they don’t want to provide health care to working-class Americans,” House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said.
Trump and Republicans have countered by accusing Democrats of wanting to provide health care for immigrants who are in the country illegally. Democrats have called the claims a lie, noting that undocumented immigrants aren’t eligible for payments from Medicare, Medicaid, or the Affordable Care Act.
‒ Joey Garrison
What government services are impacted by a shutdown? Is Social Security at risk?
Social Security checks will still be delivered during the shutdown. Medicare and Medicaid benefits also will still be paid, but many other aspects of the federal government have halted during the shutdown.
All federal agencies and services that officials do not deem "essential" must stop working during a shutdown.
About 750,000 "nonessential" federal employees ranging from workers at national parks to financial regulators could be furloughed each day under a shutdown, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, withholding about $400 million in daily compensation.
Federal workers in essential services such as the Postal Service, Medicare and Social Security services, air-traffic control and the military will continue to work but won't be paid until the government reopens.
White House keeps trolling Jeffries with sombrero video
Trump has no plans to meet with Democratic congressional leaders again following their meeting earlier in the week. And in a sign of the divide, the White House keeps trolling Jeffries with videos portraying the Democratic leader in a fake mustache and sombrero.
Trump posted the AI-generated videos on his social media accounts ahead of the shutdown. By Wednesday afternoon, the White House was playing the controversial ads on loop on televisions in the press briefing room.
Vance brushed off criticism from Jeffries and other Democrats who have called the videos racist. The videos also include made up audio of Schumer making derogatory comments about immigrants, as mariachi music played in the background.
“The president's joking,” Vance said Wednesay when asked about the videos. “And we're having a good time.”
The vice president added: “Hakeem Jeffries said it was racist, and I know that he said that, and I honestly don’t even know what that means. Like, is he a Mexican-American that is offended by having a sombrero meme?”
‒ Joey Garrison
Mass layoffs of federal workers to begin imminently, White House says
Vought, the White House's budget chief, told House Republicans in a private call Wednesday that mass layoffs of federal workers will begin in "a day or two," according to a lawmaker on the call.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, during a briefing with reporters, did not elaborate on which federal departments could be affected, or how many workers could be fired. But she said layoffs are "imminent."
Historically, nonessential federal workers are placed on furloughs during government shutdowns, but they are not part of widespread federal workforce layoffs. Trump has also said he might use a government shutdown to eliminate federal programs he opposes. "A lot of good can come down from shutdowns," Trump said on Sept. 30. "We can get rid of a lot of things that we didn't want."
Trump's threats come after his administration has already fired tens of thousands of federal workers as part of his Department of Government Efficiency's efforts to downsize the federal government.
‒ Joey Garrison
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Live updates: Trump vows sweeping cuts, layoffs as government shutdown hits day 2
Reporting by Joey Garrison, Bart Jansen and Sudiksha Kochi, USA TODAY / USA TODAY
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