WASHINGTON (AP) — Tours of the Capitol have come to a standstill. The House keeps its doors closed, while the Senate is stuck in a loop of failed votes on a rejected plan to reopen the government. President Donald Trump is threatening to lay off federal workers en masse and deny back pay to the rest.
As the government shutdown enters its second week, there is no discernible end in sight.
“We have to negotiate,” argued Senator Bernie Sanders, the independent from Vermont, late into the night on the Senate floor. “That’s how it works.”
But there are no negotiations underway, at least publicly.
Closure continues, but there are signs of calm talks
Republicans who have majority control in Congress believe they have the political advantage as they reject Democratic demands to quickly fund health insurance subsidies as part of any plan to end the shutdown.
But Democrats too have dug in, convinced that Americans are on their side in the fight to prevent looming health care price hikes and blaming Trump for the shutdown.
However, behind the scenes, signs of unrest are evident.
A loose group of senators, Republicans and Democrats, have joked about options for addressing the health insurance problem. One of them, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, has offered her own plans.
Two prominent Republicans, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, have said something must be done to stop health insurance rate increases.
And Trump himself signaled that he was open to negotiating with Democrats over their demands to save health care subsidies. Earlier this week, the president said talks were already underway because he wanted “great health care” for people, only to change his tune hours later and say the government must reopen first.
Trump wants to reach a deal on health care
“I spoke at length with the president yesterday about that very thing,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said of his Monday conversation with Trump. “And yes, he wants to solve problems.”
At its core, the debate revolves around the health care issue that has entangled Congress for years and, in particular, the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, which Trump tried, unsuccessfully, to repeal and replace during his first term in the White House.
Congress increased federal subsidies that help people buy private insurance policies on the Affordable Care Act exchanges during the COVID-19 pandemic. The federal aid was popular and boosted ACA enrollment to a record 24 million people. Those enhanced subsidies will expire at the end of the year.
Republicans say Congress may take up the health insurance issue in the coming months. Democrats are scrambling to solve the problem now, as people receive notices of higher policy rates in the new year.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, has said there may be a way forward once the government reopens.
“We were always planning to have those discussions,” said Johnson, R-La.
Doubts are high and trust is low.
But Democrats argue that Republicans did not address health care subsidies that were set to expire this summer when they passed Trump’s bill, commonly known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Democrats doubt that if Johnson keeps the House out of the legislative session and sends lawmakers home to work in their districts, Republicans will quickly get back to work solving the health care problem.
“Tens of millions of people are about to experience a dramatic increase in health insurance costs. How is that acceptable in the richest country in the history of the world?” said House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York.
“A health care crisis is unfolding before the eyes of the American people because of actions taken by the Republican Party – they are on vacation,” he said.
Late paychecks for workers and more failed votes
While federal employees have often not received their paychecks during shutdowns, with the first pay period arriving next week, Trump is now threatening to eliminate guaranteed back pay. It would be a marked departure from what is normal. The White House budget office, under Russ Vought, argues that the law says late payments are not automatic and that Congress would need to approve it.
At the same time, Thune’s strategy of trying to get more Democratic senators to join Republicans in pushing the House-passed bill that would fund the government without a health care solution has not worked.
In fact, the parties are growing further apart. Sen. Angus King, the independent from Maine who has voted several times with Republicans to fund the government, has said he could change his vote, joining most Democratic senators who hope for a better deal.
The Senate is expected to try again Wednesday to advance the House GOP bill, but is expected to fail again.
Each side has dug in, convinced it is on the right side of the shutdown fight, in part because that’s what its internal data shows.
Over the weekend, Senate Democrats received data suggesting their messages on health care were resonating with voters. The Senate Majority PAC memo was distributed to House Democrats and campaigns across the country on Tuesday, with one clear directive: Hold the line.
“It would be a mistake to take the pressure off Republicans,” the memo says.
Meanwhile, Republicans are sticking to their own playbook. A memo from the Republican Party’s campaign arm urged candidates to focus on the economic impact of the shutdown, including a district-level breakdown of who would be affected by a government shutdown.
Each side has framed the shutdown fight as a precursor to the 2026 midterm elections.
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