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Sep
29
2025

In the News

President Trump threatens to lay off 1000s of federal employees if budget deal isn’t reached; Rep. Kelly Reacts

Source: WCIA

ILLINOIS (WCIA) — Lawmakers are quickly approaching the federal budget deadline, and if they can’t reach a deal, the U.S. Government is headed for a shutdown. WCIA 3’s Capitol Bureau Chief Alex Whitney looked into why this shutdown is different than previous ones, and what it could mean for Illinois.

The recent budget negotiations are coming down to Medicaid. Democrats want to see cuts from the Big Budget Bill reversed. But, President Trump isn’t backing down, calling those demands “totally unreasonable.”

“This is much more about ideology, about what is the proper role of government. So, I see less room for negotiation,” Kenneth Kriz, a Professor of Public Policy at the University of Illinois-Springfield, said.

Professor Kriz said last minute budget deals are nothing new. But, the consequences of the impending shutdown are unique.

“It is a sign and brinksmanship that for whatever reason, he wanted to elevate the discussion by throwing out the possibility of what I call reductions in force,” Kriz said.

In previous shutdowns, most non-essential employees are furloughed. They miss work and miss a paycheck but are still employed. This time, however, the president is asking his agencies to find out what employees they can cut. Even if a deal is reached after the shutdown, those jobs might not come back. 

“We have about 82,000 federal workers in the state of which about 25,000 are postal service employees. So they won’t be affected, but the other 57,000 can potentially be affected,” Kriz said.

If a shutdown does happen, it won’t take long to feel the effects. Employees will be furloughed or laid off immediately. Federal offices and National Parks like the Lincoln Home Historical Site in Springfield will close.

It’s not good for local tourism but Visitors Bureau Director Scott Dahl said in Illinois, most parks are handled by the state.

“The federal government shutdown could impact Lincoln home, but it will not impact any of our other state historic sites,” Dahl said.

If lawmakers can’t reach a deal, the shutdown will be even more impactful than the last time the government closed its doors seven years ago. In 2018, lawmakers had passed several appropriations bills prior to the shutdown. That meant some departments still had funding.

But that has not happened in 2025; that means this will be a full shutdown, impacting nearly every federal agency.

There is still some time left to reach a deal but lawmakers and odds makers in Vegas aren’t confident a compromise can be made.

“What I hope is Speaker Johnson and Senator Thune do the right thing. Speak up and there will be a true negotiation, a true bipartisan bill. But the president is always a wild card so who knows,” Illinois Representative Robin Kelly said.

Kriz said it’s still a possibility that an agreement might be reached.

“In this case, it may happen. There’s still a meeting that’s scheduled for this afternoon that might happen. But right now the betting markets have the odds that around 70 to 80% that there will be a government shutdown sometime this year,” said Kriz.

By Alex Whitney

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