Government shutdown poised to enter a third week as Congress remains at stalemate
- The stalemate over how to reopen the government will extend into a third week with no resolution in sight, as Democrats and Republicans continue to trade blame for the shutdown that began on Oct. 1. Vice President JD Vance said Democrats' posture in the shutdown amounts to "hostage-taking."
- The Senate returns Tuesday and is expected to vote again on a House-passed measure to fund the government. It's fallen short of the necessary 60-vote threshold seven times, as Senate Republicans have unsuccessfully sought to win more support from Democrats. But Democrats say they won't vote to reopen the government unless health insurance tax credits are extended.
- The Trump administration announced Friday that layoffs it had warned would take place because of the shutdown were underway. It said in a court filing that seven agencies had begun issuing reduction-in-force notices to more than 4,000 workers, but RIF notices that went to a number of CDC employees were sent in error and have been rescinded.
- President Trump said Saturday that he was directing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to "use all available funds to get our Troops PAID." DHS Secretary Kristi Noem took similar measures to ensure Coast Guard members are also paid. Members of the military are due to be paid on Oct. 15. Other federal workers will not receive paychecks until the shutdown ends.
- Smithsonian museums, research centers and the National Zoo closed Sunday because of the shutdown.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Coast Guard personnel will also receive paychecks this week from funds in the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" that passed earlier this year.
President Trump directed the Defense Department this weekend to pay military personnel despite the government shutdown, but the Coast Guard falls under the purview of the Department of Homeland Security.
"President Trump did not want any of our military to go without pay as a result of Democrats' political theater, and we at DHS worked out an innovative solution to make sure that didn't happen," Noem wrote Monday on X. "Thanks to President Trump's leadership and the One Big Beautiful Bill, the brave men and women of the US Coast Guard will not miss a paycheck this week as they continue to carry out their critical homeland security and military missions."
Noem did not specify the source of the funds.
House Speaker Mike Johnson blamed Democrats Monday for the government funding stalemate, deriding what he called "costly political games that are being played by Democrats here in Congress."
"We're now on Day 13 of the Democrats' Schumer shutdown," Johnson said at a news conference, mentioning the Senate Democratic minority leader. "This marks the third week that Democrats have blocked paychecks to our troops, they've blocked pay for 2.2 million federal workers and they've held critical services that the American people rely upon in limbo."
The Louisiana Republican added, "At least, they tried to block those checks" to the military, but "President Trump, again showing strong leadership, has stepped up to ensure that our troops are going to be paid on Oct. 15, while we wait for Democrats to stop holding the country hostage."
Johnson said he and the president spoke "at length" before Mr. Trump left for the Middle East.
"He and I are both so frustrated that Democrats are perfectly happy to do all this damage while they play political stunts," Johnson said.
"We can hardly believe that they're willing to go along with this," Johnson said.
The speaker said "the shutdown did not have to happen" and blasted Democrats for "playing a political game."
"Democrats today have no leader, no vision, no direction," Johnson said.
Johnson reiterated that the House has done its job by passing a measure to fund the government until Nov. 21, and he urged five more Democrats in the Senate to back the measure so that it can reach the 60-vote threshold for passage.
"We're barreling toward one of the longest shutdowns in American history, unless Democrats drop their partisan demands and pass a clean, no-strings-attached budget to reopen the government and pay our federal workers," Johnson said.
Johnson, who canceled votes in the lower chamber again this week, said the House "will return to legislative session as soon as the Democrats come to their senses and open the government."
"We're on Day 13," he said. "This should end tomorrow."
President Trump said in a post on Truth Social over the weekend that he was directing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to "use all available funds to get our Troops PAID on October 15th."
"We have identified funds to do this, and Secretary Hegseth will use them to PAY OUR TROOPS. I will not allow the Democrats to hold our Military, and the entire Security of our Nation, HOSTAGE, with their dangerous Government Shutdown," Mr. Trump said.
A Pentagon official said around $8 billion in funds from the previous fiscal year had been identified to cover the mid-month paychecks if the shutdown continues past Oct. 15.
The Oct. 15 deadline for military paychecks had been widely viewed as a possible offramp in the stalemate, focusing pressure on both sides to come to the table to avoid service members missing their paychecks.
Some lawmakers had pushed for standalone legislation to pay the military, in line with similar measures taken during previous shutdowns, but it didn't get the backing of GOP leaders.Other federal workers will not receive paychecks until the shutdown ends.
The president, asked about the shutdown on Air Force One Sunday, told reporters that "we're taking care of it."
"We've got the military paid in full, and we're doing a lot of things," Mr. Trump said. "We're ending some programs that we don't want, they happen to be Democrat-sponsored programs…. I think they made a big mistake."
By Kaia Hubbard, Zachary Hudak
Smithsonian museums, research centers and the National Zoo closed Sunday due to the government shutdown. The Smithsonian Institution had previously announced it was using prior-year funding to keep the locations open to the public through Oct. 11.
Vice President JD Vance on Sunday accused Democrats of "hostage-taking" with their posture in the government shutdown, as Democratic leaders in Congress have pushed for serious negotiations with Republican leaders and the White House to end the stalemate.
"We don't negotiate with a person who has taken the entire federal government hostage over a health care policy dispute," Vance said on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan."
Read more here.
The Senate is still out of town for the federal holiday Monday and is scheduled to return Tuesday afternoon, before an evening vote on the House-passed measure to fund the government.
Senate Republicans have been hoping to gain more support from Democrats for the measure after seven failed votes. But Democrats haven't budged since before the shutdown began. Three senators have consistently crossed the aisle to vote with Republicans as leaders seek five more Democrats willing to break with their party to reopen the government. But most Democrats have stuck to their demand that expiring health insurance tax credits must be extended as part of an agreement to reopen the government. One Republican, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, has consistently voted to oppose the bill.
Meanwhile, the House will remain on recess this week after GOP leadership canceled votes. The House has not been in session since Sept. 19, after passing a measure to fund the government until Nov. 21. Since then, Republican leadership has stressed that the House has done its job, putting pressure on the Senate to pass the bill.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries called House Democrats back to Washington this week, writing in a letter to colleagues Saturday that they would return to Washington and have a caucus meeting Tuesday evening to "discuss the path forward."
Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, both New York Democrats, say the way to resolve the shutdown is through negotiations between congressional leaders and the White House. Republicans contend there's nothing to negotiate, since the House has already passed a measure to keep the government funded, urging Democrats to back it in the Senate.
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