Government shutdown updates: Leavitt says Trump exploring cutting aid to Portland

The Office of Management and Budget encouraged federal employees to create out-of-office email messages denouncing "Democrat Senators" for causing the government shutdown, according to messages reviewed by ABC News.

"Unfortunately, Democrat Senators are blocking passage of H.R. 5371 in the Senate which has led to a lapse in appropriations. Due to the lapse in appropriations I am currently in furlough status. I will respond to emails once government functions resume," the text of an email template provided to furloughed Department of Labor employees says.

Some furloughed federal employees at the Department of Education reported their out-of-office replies were automatically reset to mimic the language above.

"[They] did it after everyone left," one Department of Ed staffer told ABC News.

Several federal workers expressed concern to ABC News that adding the messages to their email accounts would violate the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal employees from engaging in political activities during their official duties.

-ABC News' Jay O'Brien, Arthur Jones II, Katherine Faulders and Will Steakin

The majority of Americans blame the president and congressional Republicans for the federal shutdown, according to a poll released Thursday.

The Washington Post survey found that 47% of Americans think Trump and the GOP are responsible for the ongoing shutdown, while 30% said it was the Democrats. Roughly 23% of Americans said they were not sure who was to blame.

"In an open-ended question, those blaming Trump and Republicans cited a refusal to compromise, the party's control of the presidency and Congress, and Trump's actions," the Post said.

The poll was conducted on Oct. 1. They surveyed 1,010, and the margin of error was +/- 3.5%.

-ABC News' Brittany Shepherd

On day two of the government shutdown, President Donald Trump said he has a meeting scheduled Thursday with OMB Director Russ Vought to determine which agencies he "recommends" be cut-- either temporarily or permanently.

In his post, Trump references Vought through the lens of 'PROJECT 2025 Fame' — suggesting that the director, who was a key architect of the controversial federal policy agenda, could take inspiration from that blueprint, which had a vision for mass federal layoffs.

"I have a meeting today with Russ Vought, he of PROJECT 2025 Fame, to determine which of the many Democrat Agencies, most of which are a political SCAM, he recommends to be cut, and whether or not those cuts will be temporary or permanent," Trump wrote on his social media platform.

He called the shutdown an "unprecedented opportunity."

--ABC News' Isabella Murray

The Senate will be out in observance of Yom Kippur on Thursday after it adjourned Wednesday without reaching a deal to end the shutdown.

The next votes scheduled for Friday afternoon, when the Senate is expected to once again take up two bills related to government funding: the Democratic proposal that includes health care provisions and the Republican stopgap bill.

-ABC News' Allison Pecorin