WorldNetDaily was in full Trump Regime Media mode on the government shutdown, making sure to hammer the talking point that Democrats are to blame for it. Bob Unruh wrote in an Oct. 1 article:
President Donald Trump confirmed that he now can do things “that are irreversible” to cut government costs after Democrats in Congress refused to give up their spending spree demands.
The government entered a partial shutdown at midnight after the party failed in its insistence that the GOP agreed to hand out $1.5 trillion to Democrats’ favorite people.
The trigger for the shutdown was the Democrats refusal to go along with a short-term spending program in the Senate, which was supported by Republicans, and even a Democrat or two.
[…]Minority Democrats in the Senate successfully shut down the government as the GOP majority needs a few Democrat votes to reach the 60-vote filibuster threshold.
Unruh went on to gloat that Trump is using the shutdown as an excuse to punish non-right-wing states:
The federal government went into a partial shutdown mode on Wednesday after Democrats demanded an extraordinary $1.5 trillion in spending for a wide range of their constituencies, including Obamacare subsidies, illegal aliens and leftist propaganda.
And one of the first consequences was an $18 billion hit to the state represented by Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who led the battle for the shutdown.
The New York City projects affected by the White House punching the pause button also hit in the district represented by Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., another advocate for the massive spending agenda.
Unruh played the partisan blame game again the next day:
Democrats in Congress, led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, demanded lavish government spending on projects run by their friends, some $1.5 trillion, during a few weeks of budgeting addressed in a proposed continuing resolution.
The administration of President Donald Trump said the government couldn’t and wouldn’t afford that, so Schumer, working with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, assembled votes to kill the resolution, leaving the government in partial shutdown.
Now the layoffs are coming.
Unruh chortled that the Trump White House is injecting partisan politics into official messaging:
A wide range of government services and offices are shut down during the current partial government closure.
The situation developed following demands by Democrats that the government hand out some $1.5 trillion for health care benefits for illegal aliens, leftist propaganda machines, and more.
Republican majorities in Congress declined to take that money out of taxpayers’ pockets so Democrats responded by voting against a resolution that would fund the government for a few weeks.
One of the things shut down is the ability to have staff answer public calls to the government, including the White House.
There, a recorded message explains, “Thank you for calling the White House comment line. Hello America, this is White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. Democrats in Congress have shut down the federal government because they care more about funding health care for illegal immigrants than they care about serving you, the American people.
“Until Democrats vote for the clean Republican-backed resolution to reopen the government, the White House is unable to answer your call or respond to your questions.
“We look forward to hearing from you again very soon. In the meantime, know that President Trump will never stop fighting for you.”
Such recordings apparently appeared on a multitude of recordings government-wide, sending Democrats into a fury.
Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., sent a letter demanding an investigation.
He complains it’s a violation of a rule limiting political activity by government officials.
Unruh didn’t explain why he thinks it’s a good idea to violate that rule to push a partisan agenda.
Unruh used an Oct. 10 article to cheer that the Trump administration is using the shutdown as an excuse to fire government employees:
President Donald Trump has warned multiple times that there will be “Reductions in Force,” or layoffs, among federal employees because of the Schumer shutdown, the current status of the federal government as closed because Democrats in the Senate refused to vote to keep the government open unless they got $1.5 trillion in extra spending for their friends, like leftist media organizations.
He even teamed with Russell Voght, chief of the Office of Management and Budget, to make a video depicting a “grim reaper.”
Now it’s happening.
A report from the Mirror US said Vought has “announced that federal layoffs have started as the ongoing government shutdown enters its second week.”
“The RIFs have begun,” said Vought on social media, referencing an acronym for “Reductions in Force.”
While referencing possible layoffs, the Trump administration also has not yet made clear whether some of the federal workers, without pay because of the Democrats’ decisions in the Senate, will be given back pay after a reopening.
But there have been dark predictions about developments.
Unruh, of course, loves those “dark predictions” because he doesn’t see government employees as human or deserving of basic respect.