WASHINGTON — President Trump huddled Thursday with White House budget director Russ Vought to plan for “thousands” of potentially permanent cuts to the federal workforce on the second day of the partial government shutdown. 4 President Trump is threatening further cuts to the federal workforce during the shutdown. About 750,000 federal employees are furloughed during the shutdown, according to the Congressional Budget Office, though the precise number varies each day. Leavitt said Thursday Trump and Vought intend to “look at agencies that don’t align with the administration’s values” for the deepest cuts. ), who met with Trump at the White House Thursday afternoon, insisted the Vought “takes no pleasure in this.”“Russ does this reluctantly,” Johnson claimed.