FLASHBACK: Trump Budget Chief Once Told Steve Bannon No One ‘Should Be Afraid’ of Government Shutdown (UPDATE)

CORRECTION (3:20 p.m. ET) The video cited in this article was an unearthed clip which was circulating on social media. The comments were not made on Monday, as the original version of this story indicated. The story has been updated to properly reflect the date, and more accurately reflect the tenor of the Director’s comments.

Donald Trump’s director of the Office of Management and Budget, Russ Vought, said — in an unearthed clip from several years ago making the rounds on social media — that no one “should be afraid of a government shutdown.”

Vought, who at the time of the clip was the president of a conservative think tank called the Center for Renewing America, made the comment years ago during an interview with Steve Bannon on his War Room podcast.

“How do we fight off a CR?” Bannon asked about the continuing resolution that has brought Congress to a standstill. “A government shutdown, they make it the biggest deal. It’s not the end of the world. We should not bend at all on a CR because then we’ve given the heroin addict a taste of heroin again.”

“I don’t think anyone should be afraid of a government shutdown,” Vought agreed. “I managed it for President Trump. We made it as painless as possible consistent with the law. And it’s actually what’s necessary to pass these bills individually, is because how else are you going to get moderates to vote for spending cuts if they’re not up against the fact that they need to pass these things to get out of a shutdown themselves?”

Vought continued, “So, I think there should be no talk of a stopgap measure at this point. They need to be focused squarely on moving these bills and doing the best they can.”

The years-old clip spread across social media Monday, as Vought is a key player in the current standoff.

Trump is set to meet with minority leaders Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), as well as House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) on Monday to discuss the hold-up.

Democrats say they won’t vote for the CR without an extension for health care subsidies and a reversal on the GOP’s Medicaid cuts.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Monday, “The president wants to keep the government open, he wants to keep the government funded,” adding the president was “giving Democrats one last chance to be reasonable today.”

Trump has accused Democrats of wanting healthcare for undocumented migrants. The administration has warned that federal employees could be permanently laid off if the CR doesn’t hit Trump’s desk for signature by Tuesday night.

Without an agreement, the federal government is set to shutdown at 12:01 a.m. ET on Wednesday.