President Donald Trump announced Thursday that he would meet with Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought, a key architect of the Project 2025 blueprint, to determine which federal agencies, deemed by Trump as “political SCAM Democrat Agencies,” should face cuts and whether those cuts will be temporary or permanent.
With Congress deadlocked and the shutdown entering its second day, the White House is pressing ahead with sweeping plans to slash government.
Trump described the impasse not as a crisis but as a chance to purge bureaucratic excesses and reshape federal power in line with conservative priorities.
Officials say the meeting with Vought will lead to mass layoffs, departmental closures, and funding freezes, according to Reuters.
The President’s post signals that these changes may not simply be temporary austerity measures, but irreversible restructuring.
Trump wrote on Truth Social:
“I have a meeting today with Russ Vought, he of PROJECT 2025 Fame, to determine which of the many Democrat Agencies, most of which are a political SCAM, he recommends to be cut, and whether or not those cuts will be temporary or permanent.
“I can’t believe the Radical Left Democrats gave me this unprecedented opportunity. They are not stupid people, so maybe this is their way of wanting to, quietly and quickly, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! President DJT”
While no definitive list has been released, if Project 2025 is implemented, expect these Democrat-run bureaucracies to be on the chopping block:
- Department of Education – Trump has long signaled he wants to dismantle this agency, and early 2025 efforts already saw major workforce reductions
- FEMA – Long criticized by the Trump administration, FEMA’s role in federal disaster relief has been repeatedly challenged.
- Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) – An executive order in March 2025 sought to eliminate it “to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law.”
- EPA (or parts thereof) – Under Project 2025, environmental oversight agencies are prime candidates for defunding or abolition.
More from Reuters:
The government shutdown, the 15th since 1981, has suspended scientific research, , economic data reports, and a wide range of other activities. Major benefit programs, like Social Security, will continue to send out payments.
A standoff in Congress has frozen about $1.7 trillion in funds for agency operations, which amounts to roughly one-quarter of annual federal spending. Much of the remainder goes to health and retirement programs and interest payments on the growing $37.5 trillion debt.
Pay has been suspended for roughly 2 million federal workers, with roughly 750,000 ordered not to work and others, such as troops and Border Patrol agents, required to work without pay. Many could face personal hardship if the standoff is not resolved before October 15, when the next paychecks are due to be issued.
A prolonged shutdown could disrupt air travel, threaten food aid for millions of Americans, and weigh on exports and mortgage applications.
However, past shutdowns have not had a lasting impact on the broader U.S. economy. The longest lasted 35 days in 2018 and 2019, during Trump’s first term, due to a dispute over immigration.
Late last week, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) reportedly circulated internal guidance to agencies, warning them to prepare for waves of deferred resignations and reductions in force should Congress fail to approve full appropriations, according to the New York Post.
Agencies were told to begin drafting Separation and Reduction in Force (RIF) plans targeting nonessential positions.
On January 28, 2025, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued a memo to the entire federal civil service titled “Fork in the Road,” offering employees a deferred resignation option.
The offer promised continued salary and benefits through September 30 if workers left voluntarily, but only if they signed away legal rights and accepted the exit by a looming deadline.
By mid-February, approximately 75,000 federal employees had signed the exit agreement.
More than 100,000 additional workers are expected to depart as of Tuesday, making this breakaway the largest one-day drop in federal workforce history, according to The Guardian.