President Donald Trump has seized on the government shutdown as an opportunity to reshape the federal workforce and punish detractors, by threatening mass firings of workers and suggesting irreversible cuts to programs important to Democrats.
00:00We're on day two, unfortunately, of a government shutdown.
00:02The president, the vice president, the entire team here will continue to work and talk to members on the Hill
00:08to try and come to a resolution, to try to encourage Democrats to muster up the courage to do the right thing.
00:14And we believe there will be a vote taking place tomorrow, and we hope that vote will lead to the government reopening.
00:19That's what the president wants to see, and that's what we're working on today.
00:22John.
00:22Caroline, yesterday the vice president in the brief room by your side expressed this optimism that he thinks this shutdown is going to be a short shutdown.
00:31Do you express, share that optimism? Does the president share that optimism?
00:35I do. I think we all, that's our hope, and that's our expectation.
00:39We know, Democrats know, they are doing the wrong thing by shutting the government down.
00:44You can see it when they're answering questions, you can hear it in their voice.
00:48There is zero good reason for them to vote to shut the government down right now.
00:53They are doing it for political reasons.
00:55They are doing it because they want to give taxpayer-funded health care benefits to illegal aliens,
01:00which is something the American people resoundingly rejected ahead of the election last year.
01:05That's why they re-elected President Trump in a large part.
01:08And so Democrats know what the right thing to do is, and it's to reopen the federal government.
01:12Can you give us an estimate on the amount of federal workers that the Trump administration wants to fire during the government shutdown?
01:18Are we talking hundreds, are we talking thousands?
01:20Look, it's likely going to be in the thousands.
01:22It's a very good question, and that's something that the Office of Management and Budget
01:26and the entire team at the White House here, again, is unfortunately having to work on today.
01:30These discussions and these conversations, these meetings would not be happening
01:33if the Democrats had voted to keep the government open.
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