The federal shutdown has become more than a budget standoff. For Russ Vought, President Trump’s budget chief and head of the Office of Management and Budget, it is a chance to reduce the size of government in ways that would have been unthinkable in normal times.
Vought has long been a key architect of plans to shrink the federal bureaucracy. His work on Project 2025 and his leadership of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) laid the groundwork. Now the shutdown has given him the tools to put those ideas into practice.
President Trump announced on social media that he had met with Vought “to determine which of the many Democrat agencies he recommends to be cut, and whether or not those cuts will be temporary or permanent.” That statement captured the spirit of the moment. Unlike past shutdowns that relied on temporary furloughs, this one is being used to push permanent cuts.
The administration has already frozen major funding streams. Nearly 18 billion dollars earmarked for New York transit projects, including the Gateway Tunnel and the Second Avenue Subway, has been put on hold. Green energy scam projects across more than a dozen states have also been canceled. These decisions impact Democratic-led states, which were among the recipients of funds being distributed just before President Trump took office.
At the same time, OMB has told agencies to prepare for a reduction in force. That means permanent layoffs rather than temporary suspensions. Reports suggest as many as 300,000 federal jobs could be targeted by the end of the year.
Through all of this, DOGE has continued operating at full strength. Because it is not dependent on congressional appropriations, it has stayed open while much of Washington sits idle. DOGE has been canceling contracts, rolling back diversity and climate initiatives, and tightening spending restrictions.
Democrats are left struggling to respond. By failing to prevent the shutdown, they handed Vought and Trump the ability to act unilaterally. With Congress gridlocked, the White House now decides which agencies and programs survive. Court challenges and public criticism may slow the process, but the Trump administration is moving quickly to take advantage of the vacuum.
For Vought, the shutdown is not just a disruption. It is the opportunity he has been waiting for to carry out lasting cuts to the federal government.
In other words, Democrats have finally done something to help shrink government and save taxpayer money.