Firings of Federal Workers Begin as White House Seeks to Pressure Democrats in Government Shutdown

WASHINGTON (AP) — Mass firings of federal workers have begun. That was the announcement Friday from the White House as Republicans worked to exert more pressure on Democratic lawmakers to end the government shutdown. In a court filing, the budget office said well over 4,000 employees would be fired, though it noted that the funding situation was “fluid and rapidly evolving.” Democrats blasted the move as unions for federal workers quickly took the matter to court. President Donald Trump said of firings, “it’ll be a lot,” and he suggested that those losing their jobs would be in areas that were “Democrat oriented.”