The US government shutdown has stretched into its 15th day with no resolution in sight, as Republicans and Democrats continue to trade blame over the impasse that has left federal operations partially frozen and workers unpaid.
As the government shutdown headed into its fifteenth day today, President Donald Trump renewed his threat to cut “Democrat programmes.”
Now, federal workers are scrambling to figure out if they still have a job after the Trump administration launched a fresh wave of layoffs amid a federal government shutdown, prompting widespread confusion and panic.
About 4,200 federal employees across seven agencies were laid off on Friday as part of the White House budget office’s reduction in force, the administration has said, although 700 firings at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) were swiftly reversed over the weekend.
Congress remained deadlocked on legislation to reopen the federal government, as the US Senate yesterday Tuesday, October 14, 2925, again rejected a Republican plan to end the government shutdown that began two weeks ago.
The eighth Senate vote to advance a Republican bill that would fund government operations through 21 November failed on a 49-45 tally – far short of the 60 needed for advancement in the chamber.
In a sign that that there has been little if any progress toward ending the stalemate, no Senators changed their votes from the last time the measure was brought to the floor, though there were a handful of absences.
After the Trump administration began laying off federal workers at several government agencies last week, Democrats and Republicans continued to trade blame.
In a speech on the Senate floor, the Democratic leader Chuck Schumer slammed the Trump administration’s decision to approve a huge bailout for Argentina in the middle of a government shutdown that has closed federal agencies and furloughed workers nationwide. He called the move a “slap in the face” to US families.
“If this administration has $20bn to spare for a Maga-friendly foreign government, they cannot turn around and say we don’t have the money lower healthcare costs here at home.”
Chuck Schumer
The Senate Majority leader John Thune accused Democrats of taking “government funding hostage” over their demands to extend expiring subsidies for people who get their health insurance through the Affordable Care Act.
If the tax credits lapse, millions of Americans are likely to see their health insurance premiums rise sharply.
“Democrats were against shutdowns when it suited their political purposes, and now that it suits their political purposes – they think – to keep the government closed, now they support shutdowns. I suspect their political calculations are flawed.”
John Thune
Earlier on Tuesday, the House Speaker, Mike Johnson said that he won’t negotiate with Senate Democrats as the government shutdown dragged into its 14th day, while defending the Trump administration’s decision to shuffle Pentagon funds to make sure military personnel get their paychecks.
Johnson also dismissed Democratic concerns about the legality of the Pentagon’s decision to use unspent research and development funds to pay service members during the shutdown, starting with a paycheck today.
Senate Schedules Another Vote To Pass Funding Bill
Meanwhile, the Senate will hold its ninth vote, in an attempt to advance a House-passed funding bill to reopen the government, at 2:15pm ET today.
Far-right US Congresswoman, Marjorie Taylor Greene on social media called on the US Senate to do away with the 60-vote filibuster requirement to end the government shutdown in order to push along their spending bill.
She told a news agency that Johnson apparently told her “they can’t do it” even though “it’s math.”
In her view, the Republicans are not being aggressive enough to push forward their agenda, even as they control Congress and the White House since the beginning of Donald Trump’s second presidency in January.
Greene also sided with Democrats in their push to provide healthcare subsidies – a rare move for a Republican – which has been the sticking point at the center of the negotiations between both parties to end the government shutdown.
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