US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said the ongoing government shutdown presents an opportunity to permanently eliminate what he called “Democrat programs,” and indicated that a list of programs slated for closure will be announced on Friday.
“The Democrats are getting killed on the shutdown because we’re closing up programs that are Democrat programs that we were opposed to,” Trump said when asked about efforts to end the standoff, according to ABC News report. “So, we’re being able to do things that we were unable to do before… And now we’re closing them up, and we’re not going to let them come back.”
No details yet on which programs face elimination
Trump added that a list of the programs that will be cut is expected to come on Friday, the news outlet stated.
Clarifying his remarks later, the President as per the report said the Democratic programs include “things that we disagree with,” though he did not specify which agencies or initiatives would be affected. “Republican programs,” he emphasized, would not be terminated.
Focus on wasteful spending
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also declined to name specific targets earlier this month but said the administration is “looking at agencies that don’t align with the administration’s values.”
“We’re going to look at agencies that we feel are a waste of the taxpayer dollar,” Leavitt told reporters. “The President wants to be a good steward of the American taxpayer dollar during a time when our balance sheet is looking very grim because the Democrats chose to shut everything down.”
Trump and Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought have repeatedly hinted that the shutdown could be used to restructure programs.
