WASHINGTON: Tours at the Capitol have come to a standstill. The House is keeping its doors closed, while the Senate is stuck in a loop of failed votes on a rejected plan to reopen the government. President Donald Trump is threatening to mass fire federal workers and refuse back pay for the rest. As the government shutdown enters a second week, there&#39;s no discernible endgame in sight. &ldquo;You have to negotiate,&rdquo; Sen. Bernie Sanders, the independent from Vermont, argued late into the evening on the Senate floor. &ldquo;That&#39;s the way it works.&rdquo; But no negotiations, at least publicly, are underway. Shutdown grinds on, but signs of quiet talksThe Republicans, who hold a majority in Congress, believe they have the upper hand politically, as they fend off Democratic demands to quickly fund health insurance subsidies as part of any plan to end the shutdown. But so have Democrats dug in, convinced that Americans are on their side in the fight to prevent the looming health care price spikes and blaming Trump for the shutdown. Behind the scenes, though, signs of discomfort are apparent. A loosely formed group of senators, comprising both Republicans and Democrats, has debated options for addressing the health insurance issue. One, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, has offered her own plans. Two prominent Republicans, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, have stated that action must be taken to halt the health insurance rate hikes. And Trump himself signaled he was open to negotiating with Democrats over their demands to save health care subsidies. Earlier this week, the president said that talks were already underway as he wants &ldquo;great health care&rdquo; for the people, only to shift his tone hours later to say the government must reopen first. Trump wants to make a health care deal&ldquo;I spoke to the president at length yesterday about that very thing,&rdquo; House Speaker Mike Johnson said about his Monday conversation with Trump. &ldquo;And yes, he wants to solve problems.&rdquo; At its core, the debate centers on the healthcare issue that has entangled Congress for years, particularly the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, which Trump attempted, but failed, to repeal and replace during his first term in the White House. Congress increased the federal subsidies that help people purchase private insurance policies on the Affordable Care Act exchanges during the COVID-19 pandemic. The federal aid was popular, and it boosted ACA enrollment to a record 24 million people. Those enhanced subsidies are set to expire at the end of the year. Republicans say Congress can deal with the health insurance issue in the months ahead. Democrats are working to resolve the problem now, as people are receiving notices of higher policy rates for the upcoming year. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, the Republican from South Dakota, has said there may be a path forward &mdash; once the government reopens. &ldquo;We were always planning to have those discussions,&rdquo; said Johnson, R-La. Doubts are high, and trust is lowBut Democrats argue that Republicans failed to address the expiring health care subsidies this summer when they approved Trump&#39;s signature bill into law, commonly referred to as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Democrats doubt that with Johnson keeping the House out of legislative session and sending lawmakers home to work in their districts, the Republicans will quickly return to work on resolving the healthcare problem. &ldquo;Tens of millions of people are about to experience dramatically increased health insurance costs &mdash; how is that acceptable in the wealthiest country in the history of the world?&rdquo; said House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York. &ldquo;A health care crisis is unfolding before the eyes of the American people because of the actions taken by the GOP &mdash; they&rsquo;re on vacation,&quot; he said. Missed paychecks for workers, and more failed votesWhile federal employees have often missed paychecks during shutdowns, and the first pay period is due in the next week, Trump is now threatening to eliminate guaranteed back pay. It would be a stark departure from the norm. The White House budget office, under Russ Vought, argues that the law states back pay is not automatic and that Congress would need to approve it. At the same time, Thune&#39;s strategy of trying to peel off more Democratic senators to join Republicans in advancing the House-passed bill, which would fund the government without a healthcare fix, has not worked. In fact, the parties are pulling further apart. Sen. Angus King, the independent from Maine who has voted several times with Republicans to fund the government, has said he may change his vote, joining most Democratic senators who are holding out for a better deal. The Senate is expected to try again on Wednesday to advance the House GOP&rsquo;s bill, but it is expected to fail again. Each side has dug in, convinced they&rsquo;re on the right side of the shutdown fight, in part because that&rsquo;s what their internal data shows. Over the weekend, Senate Democrats were briefed on information suggesting their health care messaging was resonating with voters. The memo from Senate Majority PAC was circulated to House Democrats and campaigns nationwide on Tuesday, with a clear directive: hold the line. &ldquo;It would be a mistake to take the pressure off Republicans,&rdquo; the memo says. Republicans, meanwhile, are sticking to their own playbook. A memo from the House GOP&rsquo;s campaign arm urged candidates to focus on the shutdown&rsquo;s economic impact, including a district-level breakdown of who would be affected by a government shutdown. Each side has framed the shutdown fight as a precursor to the 2026 midterm elections.

Americas

The shutdown enters its second week with Congress deadlocked over expiring health care subsidies. Quiet talks are emerging, but mistrust remains high as Trump threatens no back pay and both parties blame each other.

US Federal government shutdown grinds into its second week, but quiet talks emerging

Reuters

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump&#39;s administration on Wednesday froze $26 billion for Democratic-leaning states, following through on a threat to use the government shutdown to target Democratic priorities.&nbsp;The targeted programs included $18 billion for transit projects in New York, home to Congress&#39;s top two Democrats, and $8 billion for green-energy projects in 16 Democratic-run states, including California and Illinois.&nbsp;Vice President JD Vance, meanwhile, warned that the administration might extend its purge of federal workers if the shutdown lasts more than a few days.&nbsp;The moves made clear that Trump would carry out his threat to take advantage of the shutdown to punish his political opponents and extend his control over the $7 trillion federal budget, established by the US Constitution as the domain of Congress.&nbsp;&quot;Billions of dollars can be saved,&quot; he wrote on Truth Social late on Wednesday.&nbsp;The government shutdown, the 15th since 1981, suspended scientific research, financial oversight, environmental cleanup efforts and a wide range of other activities.&nbsp;Approximately 750,000 federal workers were ordered not to work, while others, such as troops and Border Patrol agents, began working without pay. The Department of Veterans Affairs said it would provide burials at national cemeteries but would not erect headstones or mow the grass.&nbsp;Vance said at a White House briefing that the administration would be forced to resort to layoffs if the shutdown lasts more than a few days, adding to the 300,000 who will be pushed out by December. Previous shutdowns have not resulted in permanent layoffs.&nbsp;The US Patent and Trademark Office said it would lay off 1% of its 14,000 employees, according to an internal letter seen by Reuters.&nbsp;Schumer alleges shutdown &lsquo;blackmail&rsquo;Hakeem Jeffries, the top Democrat in the House of Representatives, said the funding freeze for subway and harbor projects in his home of New York would throw thousands out of work.&nbsp;Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer, also from New York, said Trump was targeting regular Americans for partisan aims.&nbsp;&quot;He is using the American people as pawns, threatening pain on the country as blackmail,&quot; Schumer said.&nbsp;Republican Senator Thom Tillis said he was concerned that the freezing of infrastructure funds for New York could make it harder for Congress to exit the shutdown.&nbsp;&quot;They need to be really careful with that, because they can create a toxic environment here,&quot; Tillis said. &quot;So hopefully they&#39;re working with the leader, and the leader with them, on not creating more work to get us out of this posture.&quot;&nbsp;Republican Senate Leader John Thune dismissed concerns that the spending freeze amounted to hostage-taking.&nbsp;&quot;Well, vote to open up the government, and that issue goes away, right? I mean, it&#39;s pretty straightforward,&quot; he said at a press conference.&nbsp;Jeffries said he had not had any contact with the White House since a meeting with Trump earlier in the week.&nbsp;&quot;We haven&#39;t heard from the White House since the White House meeting on Monday,&quot; he said in a CNN interview. &quot;Clearly, they wanted to shut the government down.&quot;&nbsp;Different day, different vote, same resultsMeanwhile, the Senate again rejected efforts to keep the government functioning as both a Republican proposal that would fund the government through November 21 and a Democratic vote that would pair funding with additional health benefits failed in floor votes.&nbsp;Trump&#39;s Republicans hold a 53-47 Senate majority, but they need the support of at least seven of Schumer&#39;s Democrats to meet the chamber&#39;s 60-vote threshold for spending bills.&nbsp;At issue on the government funding front is $1.7 trillion for agency operations, which amounts to roughly one-quarter of annual spending. Much of the remainder goes to health and retirement programs and interest payments on the growing $37.5 trillion debt.&nbsp;A bipartisan group of senators huddled on the floor during the vote, trying to find a path forward.&nbsp;&quot;I want to see that a deal is a deal, and I would like to see the Republicans make a commitment to work with us on health care,&quot; said Senator Tim Kaine, a Virginia Democrat who represents many federal workers near the nation&#39;s capital. &quot;But I&#39;ve never said that has to be all I&#39;s dotted and T&#39;s crossed because that could be complicated.&quot;&nbsp;Democrats are also seeking guarantees that Trump will not be able to ignore spending bills he signs into law, as he has repeatedly done since returning to office.&nbsp;Both sides sought to pin the blame on the other, looking for an advantage ahead of the 2026 midterm elections that will determine control of Congress.&nbsp;Democrats said Republicans were responsible for the disruption, as they control the levers of power in Washington.&nbsp;Republicans said Democrats were surrendering to partisan pressures to oppose Trump, even though they have routinely backed spending bills in the past. They also repeated a false claim that the Democratic proposal would extend health coverage to people who are in the country illegally.&nbsp;According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the Democratic plan would only restore coverage to certain categories of immigrants who are in the country legally, such as asylum seekers and people on work visas.&nbsp;Several government agencies posted notices on their websites blaming the &quot;radical left&quot; for the shutdown - a possible violation of a law known as the Hatch Act meant to insulate nuts-and-bolts government services from partisan politics.&nbsp;The longest US government shutdown, which stretched over 35 days in 2018-2019 during Trump&#39;s first term, ended in part after flight delays caused by air traffic controllers calling in sick.

government shutdown 2025, federal govt shutdown, US Congress

The targeted programs include $18 billion for transit projects in New York, home to Congress's top two Democrats, and $8 billion for green-energy projects in 16 Democratic-run states, including California and Illinois.

White House freezes funds for Democratic states in shutdown slap

The US government is on the brink of its first federal government shutdown in almost seven years, with prospects looking bleak for a last-minute compromise in Congress to avoid closures beginning at 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday. On Tuesday, the Senate was holding a roll call on the government funding bill. The Senate is voting &mdash; one more time &mdash; on a temporary bill to fund the government and avert a federal shutdown. No different outcome But the outcome may be no different than the last time. Democrats are rejecting the Republican bill that would fund operations into mid-November because it fails to include the funds they are demanding to save health care programs.&nbsp; A Democratic-led bill that includes funding was again defeated. Democrats and Republicans are in a stalemate over health care funding and spending. Congress angrily blamed each other and refused to budge from their positions on Tuesday as hundreds of thousands of federal workers faced furloughs or layoffs. Federal funding To avoid it, the Senate would have to pass a House measure that would extend federal funding for seven weeks while lawmakers finish their work on annual spending bills. Some government functions &mdash; such as NASA&rsquo;s space missions, President Donald Trump&rsquo;s immigration crackdown, and certain public health work at the FDA and the USDA &mdash; would continue during a shutdown. Earlier Tuesday, Trump emphasized his vision of using the military for domestic purposes during a speech to top US military officials.&nbsp; He emphasized handling &ldquo;the enemy within,&rdquo; referring to criminals and immigrants who are in the country illegally. Trump was joined by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at the unusual gathering of hundreds of US military leaders who were abruptly summoned to Virginia from around the world for an unveiling of new directives to end &ldquo;woke&rdquo; culture in the military.

Congress faces a looming federal government shutdown as Senate votes on a temporary funding bill. Democrats reject the Republican proposal over healthcare funding, while both sides remain deadlocked, risking furloughs for hundreds of thousands of federal workers. 

Articles tagged with "US Congress"

US Federal government shutdown grinds into its second week, but quiet talks emerging

White House freezes funds for Democratic states in shutdown slap

Congress nearing deadline to avert US government shutdown