President Donald Trump’s government shutdown strategy is rattling Republican leaders who fear his ‘Project 2025’ agenda risks turning a political showdown into outright political suicide.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and other top Republicans have been privately urging Trump to pull back from plans that go well beyond a typical shutdown standoff — namely, using the crisis as cover to slash the federal workforce and gut key social programs. It’s all part of the broader Project 2025 blueprint, but GOP lawmakers are warning it could blow up in their faces.
“Soon after government funding lapsed last week, Trump said the shutdown gave him an ‘unprecedented opportunity’ to make cuts at agencies,” reported The Wall Street Journal. “White House officials have said they are considering firing thousands of federal workers and have raised the possibility that some workers won’t get back pay.”
That kind of talk has Republicans rattled. These aren’t just budget tweaks — these are livelihood-level decisions that could spark serious backlash among voters, particularly in states and districts with large numbers of federal employees.
The administration hasn’t yet followed through on the threats, but the warnings are out there. Trump hasn’t backed off, and his advisers are floating ideas like using tariff revenue to temporarily fund programs such as WIC, which provides food support for women, infants, and children. But even that hasn’t settled nerves.
The president added more confusion this week by suddenly claiming he was working with Democrats on a deal to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies — one of the very issues at the center of the shutdown standoff.
“Democratic lawmakers quickly said no such talks were under way and Trump later clarified on social media that he was ‘happy to work with’ the Democrats, but only after the government reopens,” the Journal noted.
The contradiction only deepened GOP frustrations, with several Republicans reportedly urging the White House to set a clear direction and stop muddying the message.
The official GOP stance remains that Democrats are to blame for the shutdown, and that no negotiations will happen until they agree to reopen the government. But privately, party leaders know the longer this goes on, the worse it could get for them politically — especially if Trump follows through on the threat to deny back pay or lay off federal workers.
“The simmering tension among Republicans comes as Democrats, who for months have struggled to recover from their losses in the recent election, have united around a shutdown message focused on healthcare,” the Journal reported. “White House officials and some Republicans have privately acknowledged that they could take a political hit if voters blame them for higher healthcare costs. Ending the subsidies would result in higher premiums for more than 20 million people.”
That’s a brutal headline waiting to happen: GOP Shutdown Causes Premium Spike for Millions.
And it’s not just healthcare. Hundreds of thousands of federal workers are already furloughed, and others — including members of the military — are working without pay. If the shutdown drags into another pay cycle, missed checks are coming, and the political fallout will only grow.
“Presidents have some discretion over the effects of a shutdown, including which agency functions are given priority and which workers get furloughed,” the Journal reported. “But if the shutdown continues, the pain from the shutdown will be difficult to avoid.”
That’s the nightmare scenario GOP leaders are trying to avoid. They want Trump to find a way out before real damage is done — both to working families and to the party’s prospects.
But so far, the president seems intent on riding this out, betting that Democrats will cave under pressure. It’s a risky bet — one that’s increasingly being viewed by his own allies as reckless, even self-sabotaging.
If the goal is to force a win, Trump may find he’s instead forcing a fracture — not just with Democrats, but within his own party.
