WASHINGTON ‒ The federal government shutdown rolled on to its third day on Friday as President Donald Trump appeared to be moving closer to cutting programs and firing workers across the federal government.
Trump, congressional Republicans and Democrats remain dug into their positions, with no end in sight to a shutdown that appears likely to spill into the weekend and perhaps beyond.
White House officials have signaled the Trump administration could begin firing thousands of federal workers as soon as Friday as the administration uses the shutdown to carry out its government-slashing agenda. Trump said he met Thursday with Russell Vought, director of the Whtie House Office of Management and Budget, to decide which “Democrat agencies” to close.
About 750,000 nonessential federal workers have been placed on furloughs amid the shutdown, the first closure of the government since 2019. But historically, federal employees have not been the targets of mass layoffs duing past shutdowns.
‘Public sentiment’ will force Trump to negotiate, Jeffries says
Trump convened with Vice President JD Vance on Thursday night at the vice president’s Naval Observatory residency, where the two men had dinner alongside their spouses.
Trump has given no indication he’s willing to negotiate and entertain Democratic demands for changes to health care policies as part of a funding resolution to reopen the government.
More: Trump budget boss on shutdown: Mass federal firings will begin in ‘a day or two’
The White House has also continued to troll House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries with AI videos portraying Jeffries in a sombrero and fake mustache.
Nevertheless, Jefferies on Wednesday predicted Trump will come back to the negotiating table because of “public sentiment.”
“The public knows that Donald Trump and Republicans have shut the federal government down,” Jeffries told reporters, “and that they’re continuing to engage in the chaos and the cruelty and the corruption that we’ve seen from the administration from day one of the presidency.”
‒ Joey Garrison
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) arrives to speak to reporters during a press conference at the U.S. Capitol Building on October 02, 2025 in Washington, DC.
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.”
More: Out-of-office emails at Education Department blame Democrats for shutdown
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
A view of a sign warning that the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center is closed, with the U.S. Capitol dome visible in the background, on the first day of a partial government shutdown, in Washington, D.C., U.S., October 1, 2025.
Main sticking point remains health care
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.
What’s behind White House claims of ‘illegal’ immigrants on Medicaid?
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.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt defended Trump’s attacks by pointing to millions of immigrants the Biden administration allowed to enter the United States under humanitarian “parole” or under temporary programs for economic or environmental crises in their home countries.
More: Why is the government shut down? How Medicaid, Obamacare are dividing Congress
Trump officials have referred to these immigrants as “illegal,” but they entered lawfully 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.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks to reporters outside the West Wing of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., October 2, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
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.
‒ Bart Jansen and Joey Garrison
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Government shutdown Day 3. Trump threatens firings, live updates
