From PBS NewsHour.

The Trump administration is using the government shutdown as an "excuse" for more mass firings of federal workers, said Shalanda Young, former director of OMB under President Joe Biden.

"They want the shutdown theatrics around this announcement … I’m not sure whether the government was open or not, if we would see anything different," she told PBS News Hour’s Geoff Bennett on Thursday, Oct. 2.

The U.S. government shut down for the first time in more than six years on Wednesday, Oct. 1. Since then, there have been no signs of progress between lawmakers as Democrats and Republicans refuse to compromise on their demands.

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