President Donald Trump and senior White House officials warned of mass layoffs, agency closures and “irreversible” budget cuts in a government shutdown. But as the federal agencies enter the second week of a shutdown with no signs of ending, there’s also no sign of those dire consequences.
While those plans and others still might come to fruition - the White House budget office recently floated an argument that furloughed workers might not get back pay they’re legally entitled to receive when they return to the job - there’s a growing belief among some in Washington that Trump is getting trigger-shy about adding to the massive disruption and federal workforce cuts that he has already put in place in his second term.
“From the very beginning, when I saw the original memo that [White House