Russ Vought’s Secret Shutdown Sauce

Elon Musk is going to rejoice next week when President Trump’s budget director, Russ Vought, unleashes his secret shutdown weapon.A former House speaker, Newt Gingrich, talked about it last night: “Look, I think that the Democrats are in a hopeless situation. And I’ve been looking at people like Congresswoman Spanberger, who’s running for governor in Virginia. How can she vote against keeping the government open when it is her constituents in Northern Virginia who are going to bear the brunt of any government shutdown?”What’s Mr. Vought’s secret weapon? He is ordering all government agencies to identify all programs that would lapse in a shutdown or don’t meet up with Mr. Trump’s policies.As Kim Strassel writes in the Wall Street Journal, usually shutdowns mean federal employees are furloughed — and then they get hired back.This time, a Democratic shutdown means they’ll be fired.Mr. Musk’s DOGE wanted 300,000 fewer federal employees by year’s end. He may get it. Plus all kinds of dumb-dumb government agencies that no one has any use for.As the Unleash Prosperity Hotline reports, Senator Chuck Schumer wants to overturn all the eligibility related entitlement savings in the One Big Beautiful Bill.And Mr. Schumer wants to add back all kinds of Obamacare- and Covid-related spending increases.Meanwhile, Mr. Trump has said Social Security, Medicare, military, and other essentials will all be exempt — fenced off from any shutdown cuts at all.The Democrats are trapped. The bureaucrats who lose shutdown jobs are almost all Democrats.There’s no law stopping the OMB director, Mr. Vought, from doing this.And nothing but love again between Messrs. Musk and Trump.And most ordinary working folks out there couldn’t care less. They don’t want bloated government anyway.Why should they, when the economy is booming?Second quarter GDP was up 3.8 percent. The Atlanta Fed GDP tracker for the third quarter is showing 3.9 percent.Mr. Trump’s blue-collar business boom is on its way. In fact, producers are producing more than consumers are consuming. Thereby bringing inflation down.Who cares if parts of the government shut down when the private economy is booming?That’s Russ Vought’s secret shutdown sauce.From Mr. Kudlow’s broadcast on Fox Business Network.

Russ Vought’s Secret Shutdown Sauce

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