Rep. James Walkinshaw, D-Va., is pressing House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., to call Russell Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget, before the committee to testify on "his threats to carry out mass firings at federal agencies during the Republican shutdown." "Now, he has escalated further by illegally threatening mass firings of federal employees, actions that would directly violate the Anti-Deficiency Act and undermine the continuity of government operations." Vought on Wednesday told House Republicans on a private call that the Trump administration will start mass firings of federal workers "in a day or two." White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also told reporters federal layoffs would happen very soon. "And we believe that layoffs are imminent.