Congress erupts at Trump's shutdown mass firings: "This is a disaster"

Members of Congress pushed back Friday against the White House announcing layoffs of federal workers as part of the government shutdown.

Why it matters: The blowback includes Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), the chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, who called the layoffs "arbitrary" and said she "strongly" opposes them. • "Regardless of whether federal employees have been working without pay or have been furloughed, their work is incredibly important to serving the public," Collins said. • Members of Congress from the Washington, D.C. area, who represent large swaths of the federal workforce, were even more strident in their criticism: "This is a disaster for Virginia," said Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.).

Driving the news: Office of Management and Budget chief Russ Vought said in a br