Overview

• Late Thursday, the president posted an AI-generated music video casting budget director Russ Vought as the Grim Reaper, with the clip credited to the Dilley Meme Team.
• Hours after the post, Vought said he froze $2.1 billion for Chicago transit projects and pointed to withheld transit funding for New York and New Jersey, while also touting cancellations of clean‑energy grants.
• The White House signaled layoffs likely in the thousands during the partial shutdown, with agencies flagged if they do not align with the administration’s priorities.
• Republican leaders, including Speaker Mike Johnson, defended the memes as political trolling, as critics condemned the posts and questioned the president’s fitness.
• Legal experts cautioned that eliminating programs or agencies is a congressional prerogative, putting the legality of sweeping executive-directed cuts under scrutiny during the shutdown.