"Thirty-four days into the previous government shutdown, in 2019, reporters asked President Donald Trump if he had a message for the thousands of federal employees who were about to miss another paycheck. "I love them. I respect them. I really appreciate the great job they're doing," he said at the time. The following day, caving after weeks of punishing cable-news coverage, he signed legislation to reopen the government, lauding furloughed employees as "incredible patriots," pledging to quickly restore their back pay."
"It sure doesn't. Trump has greeted the 2025 shutdown as a heaven-sent opportunity to fire hundreds of thousands of employees at what he calls "Democrat Agencies," at the behest of his budget director, Russell Vought, the government-hating religious zealot whose nihilistic suggestions in the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 were considered so politically radioactive that Trump claimed to know nothing about the initiative."
In 2019, the shutdown ended after 34 days when Trump expressed appreciation for furloughed federal employees, signed legislation to reopen the government, praised them as "incredible patriots," and pledged to restore back pay. By contrast, the 2025 shutdown is portrayed as an opportunity to fire hundreds of thousands of federal workers at what the president calls "Democrat Agencies." Russell Vought is presented as the architect of aggressive personnel plans tied to Project 2025. The president is using provocative imagery and AI video to celebrate efforts to remove bureaucrats who do not adhere to extreme MAGA priorities.
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