The President could use this moment to claim that ‘sinister forces’ are threatening the country – and extraordinary measures are justified to stop them
Donald Trump could use the US government shutdown to target his perceived enemies by claiming that “sinister forces” are threatening the country, experts have told The i Paper.
The President vowed to “do things that are irreversible” after Democrats and Republicans failed to reach an agreement on a bill securing funding for government services on Tuesday.
Democrats are demanding funding for healthcare subsidies that are set to expire for millions of people under the Affordable Care Act.
While Republicans control both chambers of Congress, they are short of the 60 votes they need to pass a spending bill in the Senate – the upper chamber.
Without a funding bill in place, all non-essential government services are set to pause operations. Roughly 750,000 federal workers – 40 per cent of the workforce – are expected to be furloughed as result.
Trump has threatened to make the changes permanent, expanding on the work of the department of government efficiency (Doge), formerly headed by Elon Musk, which has forced over 200,000 federal workers out of their jobs.
“We’ll be laying off a lot of people,” Trump told reporters. “They’re going to be Democrats.”
But experts told The i Paper that Trump could further exploit the situation, using it as a pretext to clamp down on political opponents.
“I think the shutdown will be added to the list of factors, like [Charlie] Kirk’s assassination, which Trump can potentially use to claim the Republic is under threat from sinister forces and that extraordinary measures are justified to meet the crisis,” Dr Tom Wraight, lecturer in political economy, Queen Mary University, said.
In the immediate aftermath of the Conservative activist’s death, the White House announced plans to crack down on the “radical left” – despite his alleged killer having no clear ideology or involvement in a political organisation.
This week, even before the shutdown, a huge red pop-up banner had appeared on one government website blaming the “Radical Left”.
“The Radical Left are going to shut down the government and inflict massive pain on the American people unless they get their $1.5 trillion wish list of demands. The Trump administration wants to keep the government open for the American people,” the banner on the Department of Housing and Urban Development website read.
Meanwhile this weekend, Trump ordered the national guard to be deployed to Portland, Oregon, to suppress protests targeting immigration detention centres.
Dr Andrew Wroe, senior lecturer in American politics at Kent University, said the shutdown “fits into a wider narrative” about parts of the federal government being “part of a deep state” which is opposed to Trump.
Trump has already used the idea to justify the targeting of his political opponents. Last week, he directed the Department of Justice to pursue charges against former FBI Director James Comey, who investigated him for possible collusion with Russia during his previous presidency.
‘Move fast, smash things’
In the short term, the American public can expect to experience immediate disruption as a result of the shutdown.
Federal lands, including National Parks and National Forests, will probably be closed to visitors, along with zoos and museums.
Federal employees will be worst affected, seeing their pay paused while the shutdown continues. Anyone deemed not to be an essential worker is required to stay at home by law.
Questions have been raised about the legality of Trump’s plan to fire federal workers, but this is unlikely to prevent him from pursuing it, Dr Wroe said.
“He’ll take quick action and then let the mess get sorted out in the courts over the next few years,” he said. “His modus operandi at the moment is: move fast, smash things.”
Dr Wraight suggested the cuts to the federal workforce could ultimately be reversed.
“I suspect that large additional cuts to social benefits is mostly big talk intended to frighten the Democrats – ultimately lots of those cuts will hurt Trump’s supporters too so I doubt he’d really have the stomach for it,” he told The i Paper.
“With regards to permanently firing federal workers, Trump has more credibility because so many workers have been fired due to the work of Doge.
“Again though, that process has often involved people ultimately having to be hired back to clear administrative backlogs, so I doubt the current shutdown is likely lead to a long-term shrinkage of the American state.”
The White House has already taken steps to ensure Trump’s priorities continue unaffected despite the shutdown.
Agencies favoured by the President have declared the federal employees who work for them as essential, or sheltered them under pre-approved funding streams, according to Politico.
Offices tasked with immigration enforcement and tariff negotiations are expected to retain significantly more staff than they did in previous shutdowns.
“This could suggest that the administrion is digging in for a protracted battle and is prepared to let this shutdown run longer than they generally have in the past,” Dr Wraight added. “However, I personally am sceptical whether it is in Trump’s interests to do this for too long.
“The markets are in a slightly delicate position with many analysts suggesting a correction is coming on US stocks. In these circumstances, I think people will get jumpy if the shutdown goes on for too long.”
