The White House on Wednesday sent mixed messages about upcoming firings as a result of the ongoing government shutdown. Last week, the Trump administration threatened mass layoffs of some federal workers during the shutdown. On Tuesday, President Donald Trump threatened that "a lot" of federal workers may get fired in a shutdown.

The federal government entered a partial shutdown early Wednesday after Democrats and Republicans failed to reach an agreement on a

Vance warns travelers that air traffic controllers ‘no longer getting paid’ as Trump layoffs loom - Republican funding bill fails in Congress on Tuesday evening, leading to the first government shutdo

Vice President JD Vance, while speaking at a White House press briefing, said that he does not think the government shutdown will be long.

The US government hurtled toward a Wednesday shutdown as Democrats blocked a Republican stopgap funding package that didn’t address their demands, the latest sign that neither party was likely to fold in the final hours before a federal funding deadline.

Thousands of government employees are likely to be put on unpaid leave, as Trump also threatens to permanently fire federal staff deemed "non-essential".

This is the third time Trump has presided over a federal funding lapse, the first since his return to the White House this year.