Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought’s new partial government shutdown guidance implies the executive branch will use a hatchet in some areas and go easy elsewhere — with Democratic priorities likely first on the chopping block.

A February memo to agencies from Vought and the Office of Personnel Management on how to plan mass layoffs said the process would be based on past shutdown procedures as a “starting point.”

That prior guidance said reductions-in-force, or RIFs, wouldn’t affect military and other uniformed personnel or positions “necessary to meet law enforcement, border security, national security, immigration enforcement, or public safety responsibilities.”

It also exempted “agencies or components that provide direct services to citizens,” naming Social Security

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