White House National Economic Adviser Kevin Hassett talks to reporters on the West Wing driveway at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 27, 2025. <\/p>\n
Jonathan Ernst | Reuters<\/p>\n
White House<\/a>\u00a0National Economic Council\u00a0Director\u00a0Kevin Hassett<\/a>\u00a0said Sunday that layoffs for federal employees will begin if President Donald Trump<\/a> decides that congressional negotiations to end the government shutdown “are absolutely going nowhere.”<\/p>\n “I think that everybody’s still hopeful that when we get a fresh start at the beginning of the week, that we can get the Democrats to see that it’s just common sense to avoid layoffs like that,” Hassett said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”<\/p>\n His comments come as the government shutdown<\/a> enters its fifth day, with no clear offramp in sight.<\/p>\n Democrats are holding their ground on their health-care demands, pushing to include a permanent extension of enhanced premium tax credits in any government funding legislation.<\/p>\n Read more CNBC politics coverage<\/p>\n Republicans, however, argue that those conversations should happen in December \u2014 not as part of government shutdown negotiations \u2014 escalating the standoff.<\/p>\n Democrats continue to dig in on their demands as the shutdown enters a new week.<\/p>\n The Senate again<\/a> on Friday failed to pass two funding<\/a>\u00a0bills that would have ended the shutdown. The Republican measure would have funded the government through late November, while Democrats’ version included additional health-care funding.<\/p>\n The resolutions previously failed multiple times in the upper chamber last week.<\/p>\n The Trump administration has repeatedly warned of mass layoffs<\/a> during a government shutdown, saying last week that they would be “imminent.”<\/p>\n