After gov't-shutdown meeting with Dems, Trump posts AI video mocking Dem leaders

The ramifications of a government shutdown could be immense for the federal work force and Americans relying on an array of government services, with Trump officials signaling they plan to conduct mass firings if the government shuts down. In a letter to federal agencies, the White House Office of Management and Budget said agencies should “use this opportunity to consider reduction in force.”

“I think we’re headed into a shutdown because Democrats won’t do the right thing,” Mr. Vance told reporters. “I hope they change their mind.”

Mr. Schumer, the minority leader, said “very large differences” remained on health care.

“The American people are hurting in their health care,” Mr. Schumer said. “We’re seeing people not being able to get the health care they need, and the American people are crying out for some help. It is our job as legislative leaders to try and solve this problem.”

Mr. Trump’s meeting with Mr. Schumer; Senator John Thune of South Dakota, the majority leader; Speaker Mike Johnson; and Representative Hakeem Jeffries, the House minority leader, came less than 32 hours before the government was slated to shut down, at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday. It marked the first time Mr. Trump hosted the Democratic leaders at the White House in his second term.

Democratic leaders characterized the private meeting at the White House as candid and frank, but said they left without being any closer to a breakthrough.

On Monday evening, Mr. Trump seemed to make that possibility more remote. He shared an A.I.-generated video on Truth Social, mocking Mr. Schumer, Mr. Jeffries and the Democratic Party by fabricating Mr. Schumer’s voice at a news conference on Monday afternoon. The video falsely accuses Democrats of trying to give free health care to undocumented immigrants to gain their support. In the video, Mr. Jeffries, who is Black, is pictured with a fake mustache and wearing a sombrero.

Because Republicans have only a narrow majority in the Senate, passing a government spending bill that can win the necessary 60 votes depends on attracting the support of several Democrats. They have said they will not lend their votes to funding legislation unless Republicans agree to add about $1 trillion in health care spending. Democratic lawmakers hope to extend Obamacare subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year and reverse the cuts to Medicaid and other health care programs enacted in the marquee tax legislation passed earlier this year.

Democrats warned that up to 15 million people could lose their health coverage and 24 million could see their premiums go up by 75 percent.

Republicans have so far refused to agree to any concessions.

Mr. Schumer said he and Mr. Jeffries “laid out to the president some of the consequences of what’s happening in health care, and by his face, he looked like he heard about them for the first time.”

Before the meeting, Democrats had expressed some optimism about the possibility of a bipartisan compromise. But as they left the White House, Mr. Jeffries told reporters that “we are not going to support a partisan Republican spending bill.”

Democrats are also demanding that Republicans release federal funding that lawmakers previously approved that the White House has since unilaterally sought to cancel. “We made the point clear, that how could we negotiate a bipartisan agreement and then have the president unilaterally” undo it all, Mr. Schumer said.

For their part, Republicans repeatedly chided Democrats as being too unyielding, with Mr. Thune accusing them of “hostage taking.” Mr. Vance and the other Republican leaders repeated that they would be willing to work with Democrats on health care spending, but that they wanted to pass the seven-week funding extension first.

Republican leaders have said they will force another vote on Tuesday in the Senate on the House-passed legislation to keep funds flowing at current levels, effectively daring Democrats hours before the shutdown deadline to block it.

“If the Democrats make the decision to shut the government down, the consequences are on them,” Mr. Johnson told reporters after the meeting. “And I think it’s absolutely tragic.”

The Democrats’ budget proposal seeks to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies set to expire at the end of the year, and roll back Medicaid cuts in the tax cut and domestic policy law signed by President Trump in July. But the proposal does not provide free health care for unauthorized immigrants.

Unauthorized immigrants are largely barred from federally funded health care programs. They cannot buy health care plans on government exchanges set up by the Affordable Care Act and therefore cannot receive any subsidies. They are also ineligible for Medicaid, Medicare and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. The Democrats’ budget proposal does not make them eligible for these programs.

Senator Patty Murray, the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, acknowledged this disconnect in a statement. “Undocumented immigrants are not eligible to enroll in federally funded health coverage under existing law or Democrats’ funding proposal — but millions of American citizens will see their health care premiums double next year if Republicans keep refusing to act,” she said.

Republicans may be referring to the law changing the eligibility requirements for certain immigrant groups. Under the tax cut and domestic policy law, certain groups of “lawfully present” immigrants are no longer eligible for Obamacare subsidies. The Democrats’ proposal would restore that eligibility.

There is no uniform definition for “lawful presence,” a term typically used by federal and state health care and social welfare programs to determine eligibility. Most groups of “lawfully present” noncitizens have authorized or legal immigration status like refugees and asylum recipients, but the term can also include immigrants whose legal status is more complicated, like those in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

Three Republican committee chairmen said in a September news release that the Biden administration had abused “‘lawful presence’ definitions” and, citing an August analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, said that the Republican law would revoke subsidy eligibility from “1.2 million illegal immigrants or noncitizens.” The C.B.O. did estimate that 1.2 million people would lose subsidies and their health care coverage as a result of the eligibility restrictions, but it did not characterize those immigrants as illegal or unauthorized.

Separately, the federal government does reimburse hospitals for providing emergency care to low-income unauthorized immigrants who are otherwise ineligible for Medicaid. The Republicans’ tax cut and domestic policy law reduced the amount that hospitals receive for emergency services provided to certain unauthorized immigrants in states that expanded Medicaid, but it did not eliminate funding altogether.

More than a dozen states provide government-funded health care for low-income children regardless of their immigration status, and seven states also provide that coverage for low-income adults, according to a breakdown by the health care nonprofit KFF. But those programs are state-funded and are not affected by the federal funding currently debated in Congress.

Earlier versions of the tax cut and domestic policy bill reduced federal funding for those states, but those provisions did not appear in the final version of the bill because of Senate rules.

Letters, memos and internal documents reviewed by The New York Times show that the Trump administration has repeatedly referred to civil rights work in housing as “not a priority of the administration”; that lawyers have been blocked from communicating with clients without approval from a Trump appointee, and had been barred from citing some past housing civil rights cases when researching legal precedent for new prosecutions.

Last week, the lawyers also provided documentation and testimony to Senator Elizabeth Warren, the ranking Democrat on the Senate committee responsible for overseeing HUD.

In a statement Monday in response to the dismissals, Senator Warren called out both Donald Trump and the HUD secretary, Scott Turner, accusing them of “turning their backs on the American people” and “silencing those who are speaking out.”

On Monday, Mr. Heenan and Mr. Osadebe were both called in for unscheduled meetings. Mr. Heenan, whose two-year probationary employee status was set to be upgraded to full-time employee next month, was handed a letter that said he was fired.

“You engaged in misconduct that included the disclosure of nonpublic information,” the letter read.

Representatives from HUD did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The dismissals come as Mr. Trump ramps up efforts to utilize his office to attack those who disagree with his policies. He and his administration are engaged in a full-steam-ahead crackdown on liberal groups, law firms and even late-night TV hosts who speak out against him and his allies.

Mr. Osadebe, a full-time employee of four years, said he was handed a letter citing several news articles in which he had spoken out against changes at HUD, including in The New York Times, and then placed on paid administrative leave.

Both men said they are now considering their legal options but plan to seek protections as whistle-blowers. They are also both members of the American Federation of Government Employees, the largest union of federal employees, and plan to mobilize it for support. A representative from AFGE was in the room with both Mr. Osadebe and Mr. Heenan during their dismissal meetings.

“They are fully aware of the whistle-blowing,” Mr. Osadebe said of HUD. “You’re going to see the union speak out for the illegal retaliation against employees and the silencing of employees.”

But in a series of steps aimed at improving the economics of coal, the Interior Department said it would open 13.1 million acres of federal land for coal mining and reduce the royalty rates that companies would need to pay to extract coal. The Energy Department said it would offer $625 million to upgrade existing coal plants around the country, which have been closing at a fast clip, in order to extend their life spans.

The Environmental Protection Agency said it would repeal dozens of regulations set by the Biden administration to curb carbon dioxide, mercury and other pollutants from coal plants. The agency would also revise a regulation limiting wastewater pollution from power plants that the industry considers costly.

In what has become a familiar tableau, miners in hard hats stood as a backdrop as administration officials gathered at the Interior Department and repeated a phrase that President Trump said he now expects of any employee who discusses the black, combustible rock: “Clean, beautiful coal.”

The announcements came days after Mr. Trump told the United Nations General Assembly that the United States would “stand ready to provide any country with abundant, affordable energy supplies if you need them,” referring to liquefied natural gas, oil and coal. Mr. Trump has promoted the coal industry ever since campaigning frequently with coal miners 2016.

While coal plants once generated nearly half of America’s electricity, they produced just 16 percent last year. Hundreds of coal plants have retired since the mid-2000s as utilities switched to natural gas, wind and solar power. Stricter regulations on air and water pollution have also made burning coal more expensive. Coal mining, which has been linked to significant air pollution and water contamination as well as black lung disease in coal miners, has also faced increased federal restrictions.

“This is an industry that was under assault,” said Doug Burgum, the Interior secretary who along with Lee Zeldin, the E.P.A. administrator, blamed regulations on what they described as an ideological war on coal. Chris Wright, the Energy secretary, said Monday morning on Fox that coal was “out of fashion with the chardonnay set in San Francisco, Boulder, Colo., and New York City.”

The phrase “climate change” was not mentioned during the hourlong coal event. Instead, the officials described coal as an economic necessity. “In addition to to drill, baby drill, we need to mine, baby, mine,” Mr. Burgum said.

It is unclear how much the Trump administration can revitalize the industry. During Mr. Trump’s first term, roughly 100 coal plants shut down and the total number of miners employed in the United States continued to fall.

The outlook for coal power has become somewhat less bleak in recent years. Growing interest in artificial intelligence and data centers has fueled a surge in electricity demand, and utilities have decided to keep more than 50 coal-burning units open past their scheduled closure dates, according to America’s Power, an industry trade group. As the Trump administration moves to loosen pollution limits on coal power, more plants could stay open longer or run more frequently.

The Trump administration is also taking more drastic action to keep coal plants operating this time around. In June, the Energy Department issued an emergency order to prevent a coal plant in Michigan from closing as scheduled, although neither the grid operator nor the local utility had asked the agency to do so. The cost of that extension is expected to fall on consumers.

Mr. Wright has hinted that more such orders could be on the way. All told, more than 100 plants have announced plans to retire by the end of Mr. Trump’s term.

“I think this administration’s policy is going to be to stop the closure of coal plants, most of them cooperatively working with utilities,” Mr. Wright said during an onstage interview last week at The New York Times’s Climate Forward event.

At Monday’s announcement, Wells Griffith, the under secretary for energy, said that a recent Energy Department study found that America’s grid faced a higher risk of blackout if too many coal plants retire. That study has been criticized by a number of clean-energy groups and Democratic-led states for being overly pessimistic about the ability of other fast-growing sources like wind, solar, batteries and natural gas to help fortify the nation’s power system.

Holly Bender, the chief program officer at the Sierra Club, an environmental group, said the administration’s actions would increase air and water pollution and raise electricity bills. “The Trump administration’s reckless actions announced today will hurt the American people, all to prop up the aging and outdated coal industry,” she said.

The Sierra Club in 2009 launched what would become a more than $150 million campaign called “Beyond Coal” that lobbies for the retirement of coal-fired power plants. Funded by Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire former mayor of New York City, the campaign this year claimed its actions had contributed to the closure of two-thirds of coal-fired generators in the United States.

While it champions fossil fuels, the administration has taken steps to restrict the use of wind and solar power nationwide, criticizing those sources as unreliable and too dependent on the weather.

Coal power has been growing around the world in China and other countries. Last year, global coal demand reached a record high, according to the International Energy Agency, although the agency says it still expects coal demand to plateau in the coming years.

Mr. Burgum cited that trend as a reason for the United States to invest in coal. “China is absolutely the number one user of coal and they are aggressively adding more power,” he said. “Our nation can lead in technology but if we don’t lead in electrical production, we’re going to lose the A.I. arms race.”

Even as it burns more coal, China has also led the world in building wind and solar power. Last week the country announced for the first time plans to start reducing its planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions by 2035.

Here is how some government functions would be affected during a shutdown.

Which federal benefits would continue?

Social Security is considered mandatory, and funding for those programs is generally unaffected by a shutdown.

Medicare benefits also continue uninterrupted. The federal government has enough money for Medicaid to fund the first quarter of the next fiscal year, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

There could be lapses for some services, though. The federal government might not be able to issue replacement Medicare cards, for instance.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which provides food benefits to roughly 42 million people, is not expected to be immediately disrupted. But payments could be affected later in the year, depending on how long a shutdown lasts and how much contingency funding remains.

A spokesperson for the Agriculture Department, which administers SNAP, said in a statement that the “U.S.D.A. is prepared for all contingencies regarding department operations, including critical services and supports.” But the department did not provide more details on how much funding is available.

Veterans would still be provided medical care and pension benefits. But some services within the Department of Veterans Affairs, such as career counseling, would not be provided.

Which federal programs would end?

It’s difficult to know exactly which programs or services would immediately end if the government shuts down this week, given that agencies have been slow to release their latest contingency plans. But agencies have warned about potential effects during similar episodes.

Access to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, commonly known as WIC, could be affected. The program would not have enough funding left to accept new applicants starting Oct. 1, according to a White House official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal budget documents.

In past shutdowns, inspections of chemical factories, power plants, oil refineries and water treatment plants were disrupted because the Environmental Protection Agency furloughed most of its employees in charge of monitoring pollution and compliance. Some routine food safety inspections also stopped.

The Small Business Administration might continue to make loans for disaster preparedness and response. But it would most likely cease approvals for other loan programs for small businesses.

Head Start, an early education program for low-income children, is not expected to have major impacts immediately. Tommy Sheridan, the deputy director of the National Head Start Association, said in an email that only eight programs out of roughly 1,600 total have a fiscal year that starts on Oct. 1, meaning that most programs would not see a lapse in funding this week. The eight programs serve about 7,500 children.

“We have reached out to them and so far all the ones we’ve heard back believe they will be able to stay open for a period of time,” Mr. Sheridan said. “If a shutdown stretches longer though, especially into November, then a lot more programs would be impacted and some would likely have to close.”

How would a shutdown affect airports?

Air traffic controllers and Transportation Security Administration employees would largely continue to work, meaning that airports would keep operating.

But air travel could be disrupted if security agents stop showing up for work because they aren’t being paid for the duration of a shutdown. That happened during the 2018-9 shutdown, when travelers faced long lines and closed checkpoints.

Would mail still be delivered?

The Postal Service would continue to deliver mail and all post offices would be open as usual. The agency generally does not receive tax dollars for operating expenses and instead relies on revenue from its sales.

Would national parks stay open?

It’s unclear whether national parks would be open during a shutdown.

In 2013, when the government shut down for 16 days, the Obama administration completely closed the national park system.

When the government shut down for more than a month during the first Trump administration, many parks remained accessible to the public, even as most staff were furloughed. Services like restroom maintenance and trash collection were not offered at the time. That led to piled-up garbage and illegal driving of off-road vehicles at some parks.

On Friday, more than 35 former park superintendents wrote a letter to the Trump administration urging them to close the national parks if the government shuts down, saying the lands could be damaged with limited staffing.

Do Smithsonian museums remain open?

Smithsonian museums have sometimes stayed open for a short period immediately after a shutdown. During the first Trump administration, those museums and the National Zoo were initially open after the shutdown began, but closed after more than a week. All zoo animals continue to be fed and cared for during a shutdown.

Could I renew or get a new passport?

In the past, visa and passport services have usually continued as long as there were sufficient fees to support operations. Services might not be offered at passport agencies inside government buildings, however.

Tony Romm contributed reporting.

In a phone interview, Mr. Trump accused Mr. Wray of “inappropriate” behavior and said he “would think” the Justice Department is investigating him.

“I would imagine. I would certainly imagine. I would think they are doing that,” Mr. Trump told NBC. He added: “Don’t forget, we just found out about all of these F.B.I. agents being there.”

Mr. Trump appeared to be referring to reports in conservative media that 274 plainclothes F.B.I. agents were at the Capitol during the pro-Trump riot on Jan. 6, 2021, leading Mr. Trump, Kari Lake and others to accuse the agency of being involved in an inside job aimed at inciting a riot and framing Trump supporters.

Those claims are false.

The Department’s inspector general has already found that there is no evidence that undercover agents were in the crowd when the riot broke out.

F.B.I. Director Kash Patel tried to clarify the matter on Fox News, saying that agents had been sent to the Capitol for “crowd control” purposes after the riot was already underway. But he nevertheless accused Mr. Wray of lying to Congress.

In 2023, Mr. Wray said in testimony to a House committee: “If you are asking if the violence at the Capitol was part of some operation orchestrated by F.B.I. sources or agents, the answer is no.”

For years, Mr. Trump has sought to rewrite the history of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, including seeking investigations into those who investigated him and his supporters. He pardoned all those involved in the mayhem, including those serving prison sentences for brutal attacks on police officers.

Since winning a second term in office, Mr. Trump has carried out a campaign of retribution against those he views as his political enemies. He has made clear he believes he can order the Justice Department to go after those he targets.

On Sept. 20, Mr. Trump posted a social media message to Attorney General Pam Bondi demanding action against Mr. Comey; Senator Adam B. Schiff, Democrat of California; and Letitia James, the New York attorney general.

“Pam: I have reviewed over 30 statements and posts saying that, essentially, ‘same old story as last time, all talk, no action.’ Nothing is being done. What about Comey, Adam ‘Shifty’ Schiff, Leticia??? They’re all guilty as hell, but nothing is going to be done,” he wrote.

Days later, Mr. Comey was indicted, accused of lying to Congress. He has maintained his innocence and has said he is the victim of a targeted prosecution.

In March, the Trump administration said he had been sent to El Salvador because of an administrative error. But federal officials reversed course in April, claiming that Mr. Abrego Garcia was a criminal and gang member, and in June returned him to the United States to face human smuggling charges in Tennessee.

He was briefly released from custody in late August, but was promptly detained again and sent to a facility in Virginia. His lawyers said they had trouble visiting him there in part because of its distance from New York City and Nashville, where his legal teams are based.

His transfer to the Pennsylvania facility, the Moshannon Valley Processing Center, which his lawyers said they learned of on Friday, could make the problem worse, they argued. The move has made it “far more difficult” for the Nashville-based members of Mr. Abrego Garcia’s legal team to reach him, and travel to the processing center is “not appreciably easier” for the New York team, according to the court filing.

Mr. Abrego Garcia’s lawyers also raised questions about “deeply concerning” conditions inside the Moshannon facility, citing “recent reports of assaults, inadequate medical care and insufficient food.” In August, a detainee, Chaofeng Ge, died by suicide there.

Immigration officials have insisted that they will not allow Mr. Abrego Garcia to go free in the United States, and Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, said in August that law enforcement officers were “processing” Mr. Abrego Garcia for deportation, though it is not clear where he would be deported to.

A court order from 2019 prohibited him from being sent to El Salvador, the country he’d come from initially, because he could face threats or persecution. After deporting him there anyway this spring, the Trump administration is now challenging the order, arguing that a new asylum request recently filed by Mr. Abrego Garcia voided the earlier decision.

The administration has also signaled that it was considering sending him to one of several countries to which he has no ties, including Uganda and the small African nation Eswatini, according to his lawyers.

Mr. Abrego Garcia had been living in Maryland for years after entering the United States without permission near McAllen, Texas, in 2012. He had no criminal record in the United States, though he had come into contact with law enforcement before. In 2019, he was arrested while looking for work outside a Home Depot but was eventually released after the judge ruled that he could not be sent back to El Salvador.

Now, prosecutors are alleging that Mr. Abrego Garcia earned money by helping people enter the United States illegally, citing an episode in 2022 during which Mr. Abrego Garcia was pulled over driving an S.U.V. that had “nine Hispanic males packed into” it. At the time, he was released with a warning for driving with an expired license. Federal authorities are also claiming that Mr. Abrego Garcia was affiliated with the gang MS-13, based on his clothing and information from a confidential informant, a charge that Mr. Abrego Garcia denies.