President Trump has Democratic Party leaders on the shutdown ropes.

Yesterday, the word from the White House to Democratic Party leadership on the subject of a government shutdown was simple: “Do it.”

President Trump might even have added an “I dare you.” By threatening to permanently fire federal workers furloughed during a potential shutdown, Trump went directly to the heart of the Democratic Party power machine in Washington.

Today, the message is more muddled.

“WH: Shutdown Threatens WIC Benefits for Mothers, Children,” warned Phillip Wegman for Real Clear Politics on September 26, 2025.

Congressional Democrats seem now to be preparing for the worst, even as their leaders are rumored to be working behind the scenes with Trump and the GOP to avoid a shutdown.

“The federal government may enter a shutdown beginning at 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday, October 1, 2025, if there is a lapse in federal government funding,” warned Rep. Dwight Evans (D-PA) this week.

“Each government agency has its’ own contingency plans for how to operate during a federal shutdown,” Evans went on. “Many agencies will have to stop or reduce the essential services they provide during this lapse in funding, as well as furlough non-essential employees and have essential employees work without pay.”

“The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) will quickly run out of funding and be unable to provide food for children and parents in need,” he cautioned. “In the case of a prolonged shutdown, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits may also be affected.”

“Congress must enact interim or full-year appropriations by October 1, the beginning of the federal fiscal year, for agencies and programs whose continued operation depends on annual appropriation acts,” the Food Research & Action Center warned in a memo. “When Congress fails to enact interim or full-year appropriations, it may enact short-term measures, known as ‘continuing resolutions’ (CRs), to keep the government funded for a few days, weeks, or months at previous levels until final budgeting decisions are made.”

“Current government funding is set to expire at midnight on September 30,” the agency cautioned. “If by then, Congress fails to pass either full-year appropriations bills or a continuing resolution, the federal government will shut down all programs dependent on annual appropriations, including SNAP. This is due to the Antideficiency Act, which dictates that federal agencies cannot spend or obligate any money without an appropriation from Congress. This means that federal agencies must cease all non-essential functions until Congress acts, which would entail the furlough of nonessential personnel and curtailment of agency activities and services, as we saw in 2019.”

“Under the Trump administration, the approach to shutdowns may look markedly different,” they added. “Early in the week, OMB instructed agencies to identify programs where discretionary funding will lapse on October 1 without alternative resources. For those programs, OMB ordered agencies to draft reduction-in-force (RIF) plans that would permanently eliminate jobs rather than impose temporary furloughs. This directive represents a sharp break from past shutdown practices, when employees were furloughed but reinstated once Congress restored funding. OMB Director Russ Vought is leveraging the threat of permanent job losses to heighten pressure in the spending standoff with Democrats in Congress.”

“If a shutdown extends beyond mid-October, USDA could technically tap its contingency reserve funding to cover SNAP costs,” added the agency. “Under the prior administration, this reserve stood at $6 billion, but it is unclear how much remains available or whether the current administration would choose to use it.”

“Equally concerning, if USDA fails to instruct states to transmit the necessary electronic files on time, November SNAP benefits could be delayed or interrupted entirely,” fretted the agency. “Each state operates on its own internal processing schedule to ensure the timely issuance of benefits. If a state misses its deadline to begin that process, delays are almost inevitable, leaving households without access to the food assistance they rely on.”

If this is a gambit by the Trump administration to force Democrats to negotiate to avoid a shutdown, it might be an effective one.

According to sources in Washington, Senate Democrats are proving particularly vulnerable to it.

Already, support for forcing a shutdown is waning on the left.

(Contributing writer, Brooke Bell)