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The U.S. government shutdown entered its third day Friday with no sign of resolution, as both the House and Senate departed Washington without a deal to reopen federal agencies.
Republicans and Democrats remain entrenched in their positions, leaving hundreds of thousands of federal employees furloughed and key government services frozen. With the Senate not set to vote again until Monday and the House canceling all sessions until Oct. 14, the shutdown is certain to continue into next week.
Republican leaders insist Democrats must accept their short-term funding bill, which would temporarily reopen the government while negotiations continue over a larger package.
“They have taken hostage the federal government and, by extension, the American people, who are the only losers in this,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said at a Capitol news conference alongside House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. “What’s in the best interest of the American people is keeping the government open and operating, so it can continue to work on their behalf.”
Democrats have refused to back the Republican plan, saying it was written without their input and fails to address key priorities, including extending enhanced Obamacare subsidies and reversing Medicaid cuts proposed by President Donald Trump.
“Donald Trump and the Republicans own this shutdown,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., wrote on X.
If the shutdown continues into Monday, it will become the 10th longest in U.S. history, according to an NBC News analysis.
The Senate on Friday once again failed to advance either party’s competing funding bills, with all senators voting along party lines. Both measures fell short of the 60 votes needed to proceed.
The House, which passed its stopgap measure on Sept. 19, has no plans to return before mid-October. Johnson said Friday the chamber will resume its work “as soon as Chuck Schumer allows us to reopen the government.”
Democrats have put forward their own stopgap measure that would fund the government through Oct. 31, extend Affordable Care Act subsidies and repeal Trump’s Medicaid cuts. Republicans have rejected that plan, arguing that health care subsidies enacted during the Covid pandemic are too costly.
“We can’t make commitments or promises on the Covid subsidies because that’s not something we can guarantee the votes to do,” Thune said. “I’m open to discussions about it, but that can’t happen while the government is shut down.”
The Republican funding bill would extend government operations through Nov. 21 without the Democratic health care provisions. Three members of the Democratic caucus — Sens. John Fetterman, D-Pa.; Angus King, I-Maine; and Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev. — joined Republicans in voting to advance the GOP measure, though it still fell short.
Republican leaders are hoping to sway a few more Democrats to reach the 60-vote threshold needed to move the bill forward. “All it takes is a handful more,” Thune said. “We get four or five more votes and we can pass this thing. At some point, they have to take yes as an answer.”
