Democrats are holding out for a deal on Obamacare subsidies set to expire in December, meanwhile Republicans have refused to negotiate on the issue until the funding measure is passed.
Three Democrats voted in favor of the GOP-backed resolution, including Sens. John Fetterman, Catherine Cortez Mastro, and Angus King.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), left, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).
(AP Photos)
Schumer derided Johnson as “the real bad guy” in negotiations around the government shutdown.
“Why don’t [Republicans] sit down and negotiate? There are Republicans on the Senate side who are saying, ‘Let’s sit down and negotiate.’ We should, and… by the way, it’s not just Thune,” Schumer said in an appearance on MSNBC’s Morning Joe.
“Johnson’s been the real bad guy in this,” he said, lamenting that the House Speaker hadn’t even called a session to negotiate when the shutdown occurred.
Reports of the Monday White House meeting between Trump, Schumer, Jeffries, Thune, and Johnson, the House Republican leader was less diplomatic than the Senate Republican leader.
3 minutes ago
Schumer calls Republican claim Democrats are trying to give illegal immigrants healthcare, ‘A total, absolute, f’n lie’
Schumer was dismissive of the Republican line that the Democrats shut down the government in order to get healthcare for illegal immigrants, calling the claim “A total, absolute, f’n lie.”
“And why are they doing it? You talked about clicks and emotion. That’s some of the reason, but I’ll tell you the real reason: They’re afraid of the truth,” Schumer said in an appearance on MSNBC’s Morning Joe.
“They know that what they’ve done to health care has decimated health care for so much of America,” he added, saying it affected tens of millions of healthcare recipients.
“They thought that they could barrel us into a shutdown simply because we wanted to fix that health care, and they haven’t been able to. They’ve tried to lie, as you said, they try to bludgeon us. But I think the number one reason that they’re lying is they’re afraid of the truth,” Schumer continued.
Johnson argued shortly before the shutdown that the effect of the Democrats’ counterproposal would be to grant healthcare to illegal immigrants, and the only reason it wasn’t explicitly in the proposal was that it lacked a degree of specificity.
2 hours ago
House Democrats’ 24-hour shutdown livestream draws dismal viewership
A 24-hour livestream hosted by House Democrats about the government shutdown drew dismal viewership.
The Democrats started the livestream at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, hoping to use it in the shutdown messaging war with Republicans. The effort isn’t living up to expectations, however, with viewership usually in the double digits.
Between 7 a.m. and 7:30 a.m., viewership hovered between 60 and 65 viewers. Around the most anticipated time, as the shutdown deadline approached, journalist Ken Klippenstein noted just 156 viewers at around 10:30 p.m.
2 hours ago
The Democrats who might switch their votes on GOP-backed funding resolution
Sen. John Fetterman voted in favor of the GOP-backed continuing resolution. Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Gary Peters are the next most likely to swap their vote.
Schumer’s grip on his caucus isn’t ironclad, as illustrated by a growing number of defectors in the recent continuing resolution vote.
Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Angus King (I-ME), and John Fetterman (D-PA) voted in favor of the GOP stopgap funding bill, joining nearly all Republicans. The one exception was Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), who voted with most Democrats.
As Republicans and Democrats dig in for a protracted war of attrition, Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Gary Peters (D-MI) are inclined to switch their votes as well. Both have announced their retirement, so they are immune to primary retaliation.
Thune is hopeful Republicans will convince Democrats to vote to reopen the government, with senators reconvening Wednesday morning.
The government funding resolution passed the House but stalled in the Senate, 55-45, with a 60-vote requirement. Three Democrats voted for the bill, and one Republican voted against it.
“I am hoping there are enough reasonable Democrats over there,” Thune told Fox News. “We picked up three tonight. … We’re going to vote on it again tomorrow. Hopefully, we’re going to pick up some more, and eventually, we’ll get enough to pass this thing in the Senate and keep the government open.”
Donald Trump points to Trump 2028 hats during a meeting with congressional leadership on Sept. 29, 2025.(White House photo)
President Donald Trump posted a photo of his meeting with congressional leadership with “Trump 2028” caps resting on his desk.
Trump posted the photo to his Truth Social on Tuesday evening just hours before the government was set to shut down.
Punchbowl Newsreported that Trump offered Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) one of the hats, but they declined. Jeffries asked Vice President JD Vance how he felt about the hats, and he said, “No comment.” The room then erupted in laughter.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) also attended the meeting.
Russell Vought, Office of Management and Budget director, listens as he addresses members of the media outside the West Wing at the White House in Washington, Monday, Sept. 29, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
OMB Director Russell Vought accused Democrats of blocking passage with “insane policy demands” after the House-approved funding bill failed, with most Senate Democrats voting against it.
“It is unclear how long Democrats will maintain their untenable posture, making the duration of the shutdown difficult to predict,” Vought wrote. “Regardless, employees should report to work for their next regularly scheduled tour of duty to undertake orderly shutdown activities.”
15 hours ago
Senate rejects dueling funding bills, teeing up government shutdown at midnight
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., right, talk with reporters following their meeting with President Donald Trump and Republican leaders on the government funding crisis, at the Capitol in Washington, Monday, Sept. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
For the second time in two weeks, the Senate rejected dueling proposals to fund the government, all but guaranteeing a shutdown at midnight.
Senators voted 55-45 on Tuesday against a House-passed measure to keep the government open for another seven weeks. The bill was “clean,” meaning a simple extension without “poison pill” provisions, but Democrats have used the funding fight as leverage to extract concessions on healthcare.
In a separate 47-53 vote, the Senate voted down a Democrat-led funding bill that would have permanently extended expiring Obamacare subsidies and rolled back Medicaid reforms in President Donald Trump’s tax law.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) gave speeches on the Senate floor Tuesday before the vote on the Republicans’ “clean CR.”
Schumer raised concerns over the increased cost of healthcare premiums resulting from the discontinuation of Affordable Care Act subsidies. Schumer also criticized a New York Times-Siena poll that was released earlier Tuesday, which showed Democrats would be blamed for a government shutdown. The Senate Minority Leader said, “It’s in the New York Times, but it’s biased.” The comment provoked laughter from Republicans on the Senate floor.
Thune followed Schumer with a speech of his own. Thune described the Republican bill as “not partisan, not complicated, simple, straightforward, clean, non-partisan, short-term.” He continued, “We want to fund the government to give our appropriators, Democrat and Republican, a chance to work on bills that have been coming out of the Appropriations Committee with big bipartisan margins.”
15 hours ago
Democrat continuing resolution fails in Senate, Republican bill up for vote
The Democrats’ continuing resolution was voted down in the Senate today.
Now, a vote will be held regarding the Republicans’ continuing resolution. If the Republicans’ bill does not pass, the government will shut down at midnight tonight. 60 votes are needed in the Senate for it to pass
16 hours ago
Federal agencies release government shutdown closure plans: What to know
Director of the Office of Management and Budget Russell Vought speaks to reporters at the White House, Thursday, July 24, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
The federal government is poised to shut down on Oct. 1 after President Donald Trump and congressional leaders failed to reach a funding deal, triggering agency contingency plans that spell out who keeps working and what services stop.
The Office of Personnel Management has issued government-wide instructions ahead of the Oct. 1 funding deadline. Employees fall into three categories: furloughed, required to work without pay, or funded separately. Furloughed employees must stop work once shutdown preparations are complete. Required-to-work employees, what agencies officially call “excepted,” continue performing essential functions such as protecting life and property, but will not be paid until after the shutdown ends.
Payroll guidance makes clear that paychecks for the Sept. 7-20 pay period will be issued on time, but checks covering work on or after Oct. 1 may be delayed until appropriations are restored. All scheduled paid leave and holiday time off will be canceled for furloughed and required-to-work staff. Employees may perform only limited “orderly shutdown” tasks, generally up to four hours, to secure files and equipment before being sent home.
The Senate is now voting on the Democrats’ proposed continuing resolution.
The Democrat-backed continuing resolution, S.2882, will extend health care subsidies under the Affordable Care Act, which are expected to expire at the end of this year.
17 hours ago
Pelosi blames GOP for looming shutdown: ‘Republicans are on vacation’
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif. speaks at a press conference ahead of House votes on H.R. 7027 - the Child Care Is Essential Act and H.R. 7327 - the Child Care for Economic Recovery Act on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, July 29, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
The federal government is set to shut down at midnight if lawmakers fail to agree on a short-term spending measure, with each party accusing the other of causing the impasse.
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) criticized Republicans in a post on X, writing that GOP members “are on vacation” while Democrats remain in Washington prepared to keep agencies operating and address healthcare costs.
“If Republicans force a shutdown, it’s on them,” the former House speaker added.
Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, speaks to reporters following his White House meeting as Republicans work to push President Donald Trump's signature bill of tax breaks and spending cuts across the finish line even as conservative and moderate GOP holdouts slow that effort, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, July 2, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) reintroduced a constitutional amendment on Tuesday that would block members of Congress from receiving their salaries during a government shutdown.
“Members of Congress have a constitutional duty to fund the government’s essential functions,” said Norman. “If Congress fails to meet that obligation, we should not expect taxpayers to continue paying us for inaction. No one else in America would get paid for failing to fulfill their duties—Congress should face the same principle.”
Most members of Congress earn a salary of $174,000. The speaker of the House earns $223,500, while party leaders in both chambers and the president pro tempore earn $193,400. During a government shutdown, most servicemembers in the U.S. military are not paid but must continue to report for duty.
