Democratic leaders said the administration’s plan to fire government workers in the event of a shutdown would not prompt them to drop their demands in their spending standoff with the G.O.P.

After canceling an earlier meeting, President Trump is planning to meet with a bipartisan group of congressional leaders on Monday. Congress must pass or extend a spending bill before Oct. 1 to prevent a shutdown.

The White House moved to put further pressure on Democrats on Wednesday night, with Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought issuing a memo directing agencies to prepare plans to make permanent layoffs if funding lapses, on top of the typical furloughs that happen during shutdowns.

Connecticut is bracing for a potential federal government shutdown starting as soon as Wednesday, but top officials do not know how severe the shutdown might be. Negotiators were racing toward the

The White House is begging hundreds of federal employees laid off by Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency to come back to work. Under Musk’s leadership, DOGE fired tens of thousands of federal workers as part of sweeping government cost-cutting efforts.

Ultimately, the outcome was the agency was left broken and understaffed,” a former General Services Administration official said about Elon Musk’s drastic cuts.

Many agency leaders had previously discussed how artificial intelligence can streamline operations and get more work done with fewer federal employees.

Democratic and Republican congressional leaders heading to the White House for a meeting with President Donald Trump on Monday in a late effort to avoid a government shutdown.