(George Caldwell, The Daily Signal) — In a new memo, the White House’s budget office is directing federal agencies to aggressively slash jobs and programs if the government shuts down.

“Unfortunately, congressional Democrats are signaling that they intend to break [the] bipartisan trend and shut down the government in the coming days over a series of insane demands, including $1 trillion in new spending,” reads the Office of Management and Budget memo first obtained by Politico, in reference to Democrats’ opposition to a continuing resolution (CR) that would keep the government open for seven weeks.

Democrats are making major demands, and Congress faces a Sept. 30 deadline to reach a deal.

These demands include undoing cost-saving Medicaid reforms, hamstringing the White House’s ability to rescind funding, and extending expiring healthcare premium tax credits which were enhanced during the previous administration.

President Donald Trump cancelled a planned meeting with Democrat leaders Monday, calling their demands “unserious and ridiculous” in a social media post.

The OMB memo directs agencies to “consider Reduction in Force (RIF) notices for all employees in programs, projects, or activities” that are no longer funded during the shutdown or that are “not consistent with the President’s priorities.”

In other words, the White House would use a shutdown as an opportunity to drastically reshape the federal government, slashing unwanted programs.

The memo may be an attempt to exert pressure on Senate Democrats, or to simply grant them an excuse to help keep the government open. Republicans need at least seven Democrat caucus votes in order to allow the bill, which roughly extends Biden-era funding levels, to come to the floor.

In March, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., justified his voting to allow a previous Republican-backed CR on the floor by pointing to the White House’s enhanced powers during a shutdown.

Democrats “had an awful choice” in March, Schumer explained in an interview on his acquiescence. “In a shutdown, the whole government shuts down, and then the executive branch solely determines what is—quote—‘essential’ and what is not essential. So they could say on day two of the shutdown … food for kids, not essential.”

Upon news of the OMB memo Thursday night, Schumer delivered a rancorous response.

“This is an attempt at intimidation. Donald Trump has been firing federal workers since day one—not to govern, but to scare,” he said in a statement. “This is nothing new and has nothing to do with funding the government. These unnecessary firings will either be overturned in court or the administration will end up hiring the workers back, just like they did as recently as today.”

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., also quickly fired back at the letter, calling OMB director Russell Vought “a malignant political hack” in a post on X.

“We will not be intimidated by your threat to engage in mass firings. Get lost,” Jeffries added.