Trump Layoffs, Broken Trust Harden Democrats’ Shutdown Stand (1)

President Donald Trump’s hardball tactic of ordering permanent layoffs Friday amid a government shutdown hardened Democrats’ deep distrust of Republicans and risks prolonging a standoff that is already the fourth longest in US history with no end in sight.

Senator Patty Murray, a senior Democrat, slammed the firings announced by Trump budget chief Russell Vought as illegal and “nothing new” from an administration that has ignored spending laws since Trump returned to power in January.

US President Donald Trump walks on the South Lawn of the White House before boarding Marine One on Friday.

Photographer: Shawn Thew/EPA/Bloomberg

“No one should be intimidated by these crooks,” she fumed on Friday. “The way we reopen government is compromise, a simple concept ...