The White House and the Trump administration are taking their shutdown fight directly to the American people — using federal websites and digital platforms to spotlight Democrats’ role in the government closure, Axios reported Wednesday.
On Tuesday, visitors to the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s website were greeted with a blunt message: “The Radical Left are going to shut down the government and inflict massive pain on the American people unless they get their $1.5 trillion wish list of demands.”
After the shutdown hit, that pop-up was updated to declare simply: “The Radical Left in Congress shut down the government.”
The White House website itself, as of Wednesday morning, streamed a loop of Democrats blasting government shutdowns — set against ominous music. Another page featured a countdown clock under the banner: “Democrats Have Shut Down the Government.”
Other agencies followed suit. The Justice Department’s site carried a banner across the top with the same language, while the National Labor Relations Board and the State Department offered pared-down updates citing a “lapse” in funds.
The Department of Labor posted to X that the lapse in funding has forced the agency to suspend Project Firewall, a new enforcement initiative aimed at cracking down on abuse within the H-1B visa program.
Meanwhile, a broad email circulated across the federal workforce put blame squarely on Senate Democrats, saying they blocked a House-passed continuing resolution “due to unrelated policy demands,” according to Axios.
Republican leaders amplified the messaging across the airwaves. Vice President JD Vance told CBS on Wednesday that Democrats had “taken hostage” critical services. “They have a policy disagreement that they are open to work with us on, but they shouldn’t be shutting the government down,” he said.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., went further, saying in an interview the shutdown could “provide an opportunity” to “downsize” government, Axios reported.
“In a way, Chuck Schumer has now handed the keys to the kingdom to the executive branch,” Johnson added.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, roughly 750,000 federal workers could face furloughs each day. At the same time, the Trump administration has signaled it could use the shutdown as a tool to carry out mass firings — a move federal unions are already challenging in court.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.
