Government Shutdown Continues as Partisan Standoff Deepens

Hadisur Rahman, JadeTimes Staff

H. Rahman is a Jadetimes news reporter covering the USA

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Image Source: Jack Gruber/USA TODAY NETWORK

The U.S. government remained partially shut down Friday as lawmakers failed to pass a spending bill to reopen federal operations, leaving millions of Americans and federal workers in uncertainty. Senate Democrats rejected a House-approved continuing resolution that would have funded the government through Nov. 21, prolonging the impasse.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) criticized Democrats for blocking the measure, stating, “Hopefully over the weekend they’ll have a chance to think about it.” Democrats are demanding negotiations to restore Affordable Care Act subsidies for lower-income families and to reverse earlier Medicaid cuts, while Republicans insist talks cannot resume until the government reopens.

President Donald Trump escalated pressure on Democrats, warning of “vast” layoffs of federal employees and the potential elimination of what he described as “Democrat Agencies” during the shutdown. Vice President JD Vance indicated that the administration is focusing on persuading a small group of Democrats open to negotiating on “critical needs,” dismissing others with larger healthcare demands as unreasonable.

The shutdown has halted paychecks for roughly 750,000 federal workers, while military personnel are also affected. Federal unions, including the American Federation of Government Employees and the AFL-CIO, filed a lawsuit in California seeking to block potential layoffs and agency closures during the shutdown.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) emphasized that the pain caused by the shutdown would prompt more Democrats to support reopening the government. Meanwhile, Senate Democrats, led by Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries, blamed Trump’s actions and what they described as “erratic” behavior for the stalemate.

The deadlock revolves around a House-passed funding extension versus Democrats’ demands to protect health insurance subsidies set to expire at the end of the year. Failure to restore them could impact an estimated 10 million Americans. Both parties indicated that negotiations over healthcare and budget priorities could continue once the government reopens, leaving the timeline for ending the shutdown uncertain.

The shutdown marks the first major lapse in federal funding since 2018, highlighting the deep partisan divisions in Congress over healthcare and budgetary priorities.