By bizn_fun 
Some workers were furloughed on Wednesday. But the Trump administration has also threatened permanent layoffs of federal workers as well.
“Let’s be honest, if this thing drags on,” Vance said during the briefing on Wednesday, “we are going to have to lay people off.”
Vance also made the claim – repeatedly denied by Democrats – that the shutdown is a result of senior Democrats advocating for healthcare benefits to be extended to undocumented migrants.
US law already prohibits undocumented migrants from gaining any federally subsidised healthcare coverage. “Nowhere have Democrats suggested that we’re interested in changing federal law,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said.
Russell Vought, the White House’s budget chief, briefed Republicans behind closed doors on what the impending layoffs could look like, although public details of those plans are sparse.
On Capitol Hill, there was little appetite for a deal to end the standoff on Wednesday.
“There’s nothing to negotiate. There’s nothing we can pull out of this bill to make it any leaner or cleaner than it is,” Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said.
Another vote on the short-term funding bill proposed by Republicans is expected on Friday.
With additional reporting from Bernd Debusmann Jr at the White House