(VIDEO) President Trump Says He Authorized “A Lot” of “Democrat Oriented” Layoffs as Russ Vought’s Purge Begins

President Trump on Thursday told reporters that he is going to target “Democrat-oriented” programs and federal employees as Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought begins sweeping reductions in force (RIF) across the government. 

The government shut down at midnight on October 1 because the Democrats refused to vote for a bill that did not include $1.5 trillion in new spending with taxpayer-funded healthcare benefits for illegal aliens.

The Democrats are planning to go so far as to keep the government closed until planes start falling out of the sky, one top Democratic aide said. They are holding the country hostage for their demands.

Trump is going to make them pay if they refuse to reopen the government. When the President was asked on Friday how many layoffs would be made and which agencies would face reductions, Trump stated, “It will be Democrat-oriented because we figure, you know, they started this thing, so they should be Democrat-oriented.”

“It’ll be a lot, and we’ll announce the numbers over the next couple of days, but it’ll be a lot of people, all because of the Democrats,” he continued.

“These are people that the Democrats wanted that, in many cases, were not appropriate. We fought them at the time, and it was ultimately signed in. And some of these people, these are largely people that the Democrats want. Many of them will be fired.”

WATCH:

Reporter: How many layoffs have you authorized for this first round, and from which agencies?

Trump: It’s going to be a lot, and it will be Democrat-oriented because we figure, you know, they started this thing, so they should be Democrat-oriented. It’ll be a lot, and we’ll announce the numbers over the next couple of days, but it’ll be a lot of people, all because of the Democrats. I mean, they want to give one and a half trillion dollars to people that came into the country illegally. More important than that, because we all have a big heart, we want people to be taken care of, but you know, we have zero people coming in. You know that, Glenn, right? That’s a pretty impressive number, even for a successful governor.

But we’ve had for the last four months, zero people coming in illegal. They’re coming in, but they’re coming in legally. They’re coming in through a process that’s really a really good process right now because we want people to come in, but they have to come in legally. So, what we’re doing is, as these different groups come do, we’re going to make a determination. Do we want them a lot? And I must tell you, a lot of them happen to be Democrat-oriented. These are people that the Democrats wanted that, in many cases, were not appropriate. We fought them at the time, and it was ultimately signed in. And some of these people, these are largely people that the Democrats want. Many of them will be fired.

The Gateway Pundit reported on Friday, Vought announced, “The RIFs have begun,” indicating that layoffs will begin immediately.

This comes after Trump met with 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. The day before the shutdown began, Trump threatened to take “irreversible” actions, “like cutting vast numbers of people out” and “cutting programs that they like.”

BREAKING: Layoffs of Federal Workers Begin Today: Russ Vought