The US is bracing for a fast-approaching government shutdown as Republicans and Democrats appear unlikely to reach an agreement that would extend funding past a midnight (04:00 GMT) deadline.
A shutdown would begin on Wednesday, October 1, 2025, at midnight, and see federal agencies curtail operations and keep employees home.
US President, Donald Trump has said that a government shutdown was “probably likely,” after talks between congressional leaders on continuing funding ahead of a midnight deadline appeared to yield little progress.
Congress’s Republican majority is pushing legislation to fund the government through 21 November, but Democrats have refused to vote for it unless it includes a series of concessions centered on healthcare.
Speaking at the White House today, Trump noted, “Nothing is inevitable, but I would say it’s [government shutdown] probably likely,” before going on to falsely accuse Democrats of wanting to provide healthcare to undocumented immigrants.
Trump also warned that the administration can take “irreversible” actions during a shutdown that could undermine Democrats’ interests, including cutting “large numbers of people” from the government.
Republicans passed their funding bill through the House of Representatives on a near party-line vote earlier this month, but it requires at least some Democratic support to advance in the Senate.
In exchange for their votes, the Democrats are demanding an extension of subsidies for Affordable Care Act (ACA) health plans, which expire at the end of the year. They also want to undo Republican cuts to Medicaid, the program providing healthcare to poor and disabled Americans, and public media outlets.
Chuck Schumer, the top Senate Democrat, has described the end of the ACA subsidies and Medicaid cuts as a “crisis” for healthcare.
“The Republicans have until midnight tonight to get serious with us about solving this crisis and keep the government open, but right now they’re not even talking to us seriously. They’re sort of in la la land.”
Chuck Schumer
Trump convened an Oval Office meeting of the two party’s congressional leaders on Monday evening, but it concluded with no signs of a breakthrough.
After their meeting, Trump posted on social media an AI-generated video of Schumer making derogatory remarks about Democrats alongside the top House Democrat, Hakeem Jeffries, who was depicted wearing a sombrero and mustache. “The President is busy trolling away on the internet like a 10-year-old, and that’s exactly why Americans are going to blame him if the government shuts down,” Schumer said.
Republican congressional leaders have shown no signs of shifting in their demands for a vote on their spending bill, which they say is intended to give appropriators more time to reach an agreement on long-term government spending.
HUD Website Blames ‘Radical Left’ For Looming Government Shutdown
In an unusual move, Donald Trump’s administration is using the US Department of Housing and Urban Development website to blame the looming government shutdown on the “radical left”.
The giant red banner, splashed across the agency website on Tuesday morning, comes after Republican and Democratic leaders did not reach an agreement on government spending legislation.
The message on the HUD website, which also appears as pop-up window, states, “The Radical Left are going to shut down the government and inflict massive pain on the American people unless they get their $1.5 trillion wish list of demands. It added that the Trump administration wants to keep the government open for the American people.
The message is reminiscent of the language the White House has increasingly used on social media accounts, as well as the US President’s personal posts.
Several Democrats noted it was unusual for a government website, which citizens use to access public services, to bear such an overtly political message.
Representative Sylvia Garcia of Texas noted, “We should not be putting political messages on government webpages,” adding that she has never seen that kind of message. “I don’t think that would be acceptable with any other prior administration,” she said.
Representative Jamie Raskin said that it has become common under Trump to use “public taxpayer funds for overtly political and polemical reasons.”
It did not appear Tuesday that other federal agencies had similar messages on their homepages, though some internal messages suggest the department heads are trying similar tactics.
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