White House warns of mass federal worker layoffs if shutdown doesn’t end

There could be wide-reaching federal layoffs if President Trump doesn’t see progress in the shutdown talks. Appearing on CNN’s “State of the Union,” White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett warned that mass layoffs of federal workers will start if the president decides negotiations with congressional Democrats are “absolutely going nowhere.” Despite the warning, Hassett expressed cautious optimism that a shutdown and mass federal layoffs could still be avoided. He said he still saw a chance that Democrats would back down.