The federal government shut down on Wednesday, Oct. 1, after the Senate failed to pass a funding extension to keep the government open. Look back at how each day of the shutdown has unfolded.

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Billy House

The U.S. Senate successfully moved Sunday night toward ending the federal government shutdown, in a breakthrough deal between Republicans and some moderate Democrats. 
The chamber cleared a key procedural hurdle, with at least eight Democrats joining Republicans to advance the plan to reopen the government toward a final vote likely to be held later this week. 
Despite some fellow Democrats joining Republicans in the deal, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) cast the shutdown standoff that enters its 41st day on Monday as having made “the contrasts between the two parties clear." 
He said Democrats emerge as the party fighting more for improving health care and lowering health care costs. 
“I am optimistic that after almost six weeks of this shutdown, we will finally be able to end it,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said.&nbsp; 
A group of Senate centrist Democrats that were key to reaching a deal with majority Republicans decided Sunday night they were, in fact, officially on board with a new agreement to end the shutdown. 
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), the former vice-presidential candidate, issued a statement shortly after 7 p.m. that he has agreed to a deal “that will protect federal workers from baseless firings, reinstate those who have been wrongly terminated and ensure federal workers will receive back pay. 
He also said the deal guarantees a vote on extending Affordable Care Act tax credits that are set to expire at the end of the year — a central issue in the shutdown stalemate. That separate vote would occur under the deal by the end of the second week of December. 
But that one big detail was prompting immediate backlash and anger by other Democrats. 
In one of many angry Democratic reactions outside of the Senate, the top House Democrat, Hakeem Jeffries (D-Brooklyn), issued a statement shortly before 7 p.m. acknowledging the Senate deal does not include that central key House Democratic demand on health care. 
“It now appears that Senate Republicans will send the House of Representatives a spending bill that fails to extend the Affordable tax credits,” Jeffries said in a statement. But he said the House Democrats will fight for that, and not support the bill to reopen government unless it does include that language. 
There are other indications that an agreement has been struck — including bills that will be attached to a new version of the bill to reopen government, this time until Jan. 31. 
Those bills do include language that Democrats have been seeking to beat back some of the spending and program&nbsp;cuts that President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans sought. 
The House, which has not voted since Sept. 19, would ultimately also have&nbsp;to approve the measure, a process that could take several additional days and present new hurdles over the proposed GOP spending cuts. House members were not even in Washington this weekend, and they have been promised a two-day notice if they are called to return. 
The challenge for the 53 Senate Republicans led by Thune is to, in fact, secure enough Democratic backing so the measure will have enough votes from other senators to meet the 60-vote requirement to break the chamber’s filibuster rule. Until now, not enough Democrats have agreed to go along. 
Democratic centrists have been pushing for inclusion of finalized versions of at least some of the 12 full-year funding bills for agencies — along with a vote that Democrats have been seeking to renew expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies. 
On Sunday, three of those spending bills were announced as ready to go by Republicans, and some Democrats responded positively. 
The three spending bills that will be attached to the measure to reopen government until Jan.&nbsp;31 would include one funding the Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration. That bill, among other things, would prevent any further delay in the distribution of food assistance for 42 million Americans under the&nbsp;Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps. 
The other two funding bills unveiled relate to military construction projects and veterans affairs and legislative affairs. 
The aim of Republicans is to combine those bills with a revision of a short-term bill to temporarily fund the rest of the government — rewritten to extend in duration until Jan. 31&nbsp;— keeping funding at current levels until then. That would give more time for congressional negotiators to finalize the nine remaining full-year spending bills. 
But the early public and private blowback within the ranks of the Democrat Party was still casting some doubt on whether it could even advance in the Senate, a process that could face procedural delays by progressive Democrats who are opposed to it. 
That, and whether Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) would even agree to hold such a vote in the House on extending the Obamacare subsidies — even if a Senate vote led to its passage there — remained as sticking points. 
“Millions of Americans will see healthcare costs skyrocket because Republicans care more about billionaires than working families. @SenateDems,” House Rules Committee top Democrat Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), implored in a posting on X early Sunday evening. “It's not too late to STAND STRONG. Everyday people are counting on us to champion their concerns. Keep fighting! Don’t be a cheap date!” 
“Any deal that ends with Dems just getting a pinky promise in return is a mistake.” Kenyatta Malcom, a Democratic National Committee vice chair and Pennsylvania state representative, posted on X, a sentiment echoed by several House Democrats and others.&nbsp;

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Senate moving toward votes to end federal government shutdown

Senate moving toward votes to end government shutdown

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Laura Figueroa Hernandez

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate will reconvene Sunday afternoon after a Saturday session failed to materialize any deals to reopen the federal government on the 39th day of the U.S. shutdown. 
The rare weekend session underscores the pressure both parties are facing to reopen the government, as food assistance funding is in limbo and airports across the country report delays, but both sides showed little sign&nbsp;of budging from their demands. 
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), in a Senate floor speech, urged Democrats to pass a “clean” version of a short-term spending bill, while Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) in a follow-up speech insisted any deal to reopen the government should be tied a one-year extension of public health care subsidies set to expire at the end of the year. 
“A one-year extension is something many Republicans themselves have said they want,” Schumer said. 
But Thune continued to assert that any negotiations on the health care tax credits would not take place until the government reopened. 
“I urge my colleagues to support a clean continuing resolution so we can start a real discussion to address their health care mess, get back to the regular appropriations process and, above all, finally provide relief to the American people,” Thune said. 
Thune, speaking to reporters after his floor speech, said he planned to keep senators in Washington until the impasse was broken, even though the chamber was scheduled to be in recess next week. 
Senate Republicans continued to face pressure from President Donald Trump to eliminate the chamber’s 60-vote filibuster rule. Without the rule, major pieces of legislation, including a short-term spending bill, could pass strictly along partisan lines. 
Trump, spending the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, posted four online missives calling for an end to the filibuster, and made it clear to Senate Republicans he opposed any deal to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies, describing the Obama-era health care program as “the worst Healthcare anywhere in the World.” 
More than 45 million Americans are enrolled in health coverage purchased through Affordable Care Act public exchanges or via the act’s expansion of Medicaid, according to U.S. Health and Human Services data. 
Senate Republicans, in a series of floor speeches Saturday, repeatedly cited Trump’s social media posts railing against the Affordable Care Act as a reason not to extend the health care subsidies. 
"We're going to replace this broken system with something that is actually better for the consumer to meet the goal of lowering health care costs,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said. 
Trump has long called for the repeal of the health program since his first term, but has never put forward a substitute plan.

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Shutdown Day 39: Thune says he will keep Senate in Washington until impasse breaks

Thune to keep Senate in Washington until shutdown impasse is solved

AIAudio - Shutdown Day 39: Thune says he will keep Senate in Washington until impasse breaks


AIAudio - Shutdown Day 39: Thune says he will keep Senate in Washington until impasse breaks

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WASHINGTON — A U.S. Supreme Court justice late Friday sided with the Trump administration by ordering a pause in the distribution of full amounts of November food aid, even as Gov. Kathy Hochul had earlier directed agencies to begin processing those benefits to 3 million low-income New Yorkers. 
The immediate, emergency administrative stay that was issued by Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson around 9:30 p.m. did not directly address the legal merits of the issues in dispute, a prominent battle during the record-breaking U.S. government shutdown. 
More than 160,000 Long Islanders receive assistance to buy groceries under the program, among 42 million recipients nationally — 1 in 8 Americans. 
But Brown Jackson’s stay temporarily blocked lower court orders from Thursday and earlier Friday evening requiring the Trump administration to make full November payments under the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP), previously known as food stamps. 
"This decision is a tragedy for the millions of Americans who rely on SNAP to feed their families," New York Attorney General Letitia James&nbsp;said in a statement after the stay was issued. "It is disgraceful that the Trump administration chose to fight this in court instead of fulfilling its responsibility to the American people." 
What happens now under the temporary stay won by the administration is unclear as the issue goes back to a lower court to consider the arguments. In a social media post after the Supreme Court stay, Hochul said only: "Trump fought for this. He doesn't care if millions of Americans go hungry." 
The decision by Hochul and other governors earlier to issue full November SNAP benefits came after word Friday from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the food aid, that money would start flowing for the program again. 
"We expect the first New Yorkers to begin having access to their benefits starting Sunday," Hochul said in a statement Friday, the 38th day of the government shutdown. 
In a memo offering guidance to states, Patrick Penn, deputy undersecretary of Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services, had &nbsp;said FNC is "working towards implementing November 2025 full benefit issuances" of SNAP, to comply with a U.S. District judge’s decision on Thursday. 
But as states like New York, Kansas, Pennsylvania and Oregon began fully resuming the food program, Trump administration lawyers were back in court, arguing that during the shutdown, the government should not turn to reserve funds to keep the funding at full levels. 
By early evening, they were handed a second legal defeat in as many days in their fight to limit the funds going out. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit refused to delay the full funding order from the judge the night before. 
But late Friday, Jackson issued her order to block those orders, at least temporarily. 
Other developments in the shutdown stalemate Friday included a new offer by Senate Democrats to resolve one of their central demands: that the renewal of expiring health tax credits be part of any deal to reopen agencies. 
But the idea floated by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) — a one-year extension of those subsidies and a plan to continue broader talks next year — was quickly shot down by Republicans. 
And a day that began with optimistic talk regarding negotiations closed with no hint, at least publicly, of real progress. A GOP bill written to ensure federal employees and active duty military troops get paid during the shutdown also got bogged down over Democratic concerns that President Donald Trump would not — like the SNAP benefits — follow what Congress passed. 
The SNAP developments were the day's biggest storyline, though. 
A typical monthly amount of SNAP benefits that goes out in New York is approximately $640 million. The individual SNAP allotment is typically placed on an Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card, and the benefits can be used to purchase groceries. 
Meanwhile, Trump, speaking to reporters at the White House on Friday, continued to press Senate Republicans to eliminate the 60-vote filibuster threshold, which would allow major pieces of legislation including the short-term spending bill to pass without Democratic votes. 
"If we terminate the filibuster, the country will be open within 10 minutes after that termination," Trump said when asked about potential off-ramps for the shutdown. 
Asked by a Newsday reporter what his push to scrap the filibuster meant for the prospect of bipartisanship over his next three years in office, Trump said: "If we terminate the filibuster, we will have the most productive three years in the history of our country. If the filibuster is not terminated, then we will be in a slog with the Democrats, and very little for either party will be done."

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Shutdown Day 38: Supreme Court blocks SNAP funding

Supreme Court blocks SNAP funding after NY pledges full benefits

AIAudio - Shutdown Day 38: Supreme Court blocks SNAP funding


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WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans are teeing up a Friday vote on a short-term spending bill to reopen the U.S. government, as small glimmers of progress started to emerge on Thursday, Day 37, of the longest-running shutdown. 
Republicans are looking to pair votes on the short-term spending bill with three separate longer-term appropriations bills, in the hopes of luring more moderate Senate Democratic votes, Republican sources told CBS News. 
Three Democrats crossed party lines in previous votes for the short-term spending bills, but Republicans need at least five more to cross the chamber’s 60-vote filibuster-proof threshold. 
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) signaled his willingness to keep senators working through the weekend to reach a deal. Thune, who over the past month has typically dismissed the chamber for the weekend, told reporters he would keep the chamber open "if there is a path forward." 
Senate Democrats, who continue to press for an extension of soon-to-expire Affordable Care Act tax credits in exchange for their support, met behind closed doors for nearly two hours, but said little to reporters after the meeting about their next moves. 
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) told reporters it was a "very good, productive meeting." 
Friday’s vote is not expected to include a vote on the health care subsidies demanded by Democrats, and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) told reporters Thursday he could not promise that a vote on the issue would be scheduled in the House, which has been in recess since mid-September. 
“I’m not promising anybody anything. I’m going to let this process play out,” Johnson said at a news conference. 
Looking to break some of gridlock over the health subsidies issue, a pair of freshman Senate Democrats — Andy Kim, of New Jersey, and Lisa Blunt Rochester, of Delaware — are in talks with a pair of moderate House Republicans — Brian Fitzpatrick, of Pennsylvania, and Jeff Van Drew, of New Jersey — to discuss a deal that would allow for a separate vote on the extension in both chambers, according to Politico. 
Also Thursday, a federal court judge ordered the Trump administration to fully fund the federal food assistance program SNAP, but the Justice Department indicated it will appeal the ruling, as nearly 42 million Americans enrolled in the program await their monthly payment that was due Nov. 1. 
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) blasted the Trump administration’s push to appeal. In a statement, she said Trump is “doing everything he can to make sure that hungry people can’t get food while sending $40 billion to Argentina and spending $300 million to remodel the White House. It’s absolutely unconscionable.”

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Shutdown Day 37: Senate Republicans set up vote on short-term spending bill

Shutdown Day 37: What happened

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WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Wednesday doubled down on his demand for Senate Republicans to eliminate the filibuster and pass a bill to reopen the government along partisan lines, as he partially blamed the U.S. shutdown for Republican election losses. 
"It's time for Republicans to do what they have to do, and that's terminate the filibuster," Trump told Senate Republicans at a White House breakfast Wednesday, the 36th day of the now-longest running shutdown on record. 
Earlier in his remarks, Trump blamed the shutdown for Tuesday’s election results, which saw Democrats win statewide races in New Jersey, Virginia and Pennsylvania, saying "the shutdown was a big factor, negative for the Republicans." 
As for Trump’s main request, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told reporters there are not enough votes in the chamber to eliminate the 60-vote threshold to pass major pieces of legislation through the U.S. Senate. 
"I know where the votes are," Thune said. "The answer is, there aren't the votes, as I've said before." 
Both parties have been reluctant to abolish the longstanding rule, arguing in part that eliminating the 60-vote threshold would discourage bipartisan work if crossover minority party votes aren’t needed to pass major bills. 
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) in a Senate floor speech said Tuesday’s election results "ought to send a much-needed bolt of lightning to Donald Trump that he should meet with us to end this crisis and his shutdown, which he admits hurt him badly in the election." 
Schumer said he and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) reached out to the White House again, urging the president to negotiate with congressional Democrats who are seeking an extension of soon-to-expire health care subsidies in exchange for their support of a short-term spending bill to reopen the government. 
"Donald Trump ignores us at his own political peril," Schumer said. 
Trump, speaking at the American Business Conference in Miami later in the day, took aim at Schumer and Democrats, accusing them of not wanting to reopen the government "because we're setting records."

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Shutdown Day 36: Trump says to 'terminate the filibuster'

Shutdown Day 36: What happened

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WASHINGTON — The U.S. government shutdown becomes the longest on record Wednesday after surpassing the 35-day mark. 
The U.S. Senate for a 14th time failed to pass a short-term spending bill to reopen the government on Tuesday, but signs of a potential deal continued to be floated by lawmakers from both parties. 
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), speaking to reporters on Capitol Hill, said he hoped bipartisan negotiators were "close" to reaching a deal, but added "the cross-pressures that everybody's feeling&nbsp;are great." 
"I think there are people who realize this has gone on long enough, and there's been enough pain inflicted on the American people and it's time to end it," Thune said. 
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who has been urging Democrats to withhold their support for the short-term spending bill until Republicans agree to extend soon-to-expire health care subsidies, told reporters after a closed-door caucus meeting that "we’re exploring all the options." 
President Donald Trump continued to press Senate Republicans on his Truth Social platform to deploy one "nuclear" option — eliminating the chamber’s 60-vote filibuster-proof voting threshold so the GOP-majority can pass the spending bill along party lines. 
"TERMINATE THE FILIBUSTER!!!" Trump posted online. He is set to meet with Senate Republicans at the White House on Wednesday. 
Thune told reporters on Monday there were not enough votes to get rid of the filibuster. 
Trump administration officials continued to warn that a prolonged shutdown would lead to massive airport delays&nbsp;and possible air space closures, during the busiest travel period of the year. 
"You will see mass flight delays. You’ll see mass cancellations, and you may see us close certain parts of the airspace because we just cannot manage it, because we don’t have the air traffic controllers," Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told reporters at a news conference. 
The White House also insisted it&nbsp;is complying with a federal court order to release nearly $5 billion in emergency funding to provide SNAP benefits to millions of Americans who rely on the monthly food assistance stipend. 
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, when asked about a social media post by the president asserting the money will not be released until the government is reopened, said the administration will tap into the emergency fund, but "it's going to take some time" for benefits to reach recipients.

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Shutdown Day 35: Hopeful talk, but still no deal

Shutdown Day 35: What happened

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WASHINGTON — The Republican&nbsp;leaders of both the Senate and House were sounding optimistic Monday that a deal to end to U.S. government shutdown could be near, perhaps as soon as this week. 
Even so, that won’t keep this federal closure from achieving the milestone of tying the longest one ever on Tuesday, 35 days. And, likely, then overtaking it. 
No matter what, the two longest shutdowns in U.S. history will have occurred under President Donald Trump, the other one being 35 days between late 2018 and early 2019. 
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said Monday that his "gut" tells him that things are moving toward an "exit ramp," perhaps as early as this week, though he declined to give any specifics of what is happening in talks. He did underscore that this was his optimistic view, not necessarily a confident one. 
Earlier Monday, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), separately said he hoped Election Day on Tuesday will deliver a "sea change" in the shutdown negotiations. 
Johnson suggested that congressional Democrats — led by two New Yorkers, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries — will make the calculation after Tuesday’s balloting that they no longer have to worry about their party voter turnout, and will loosen up in negotiations to reopen government. 
On the other side, Jeffries was not offering much support to what the two Republicans were saying. 
He said Democrats will continue to demand concessions on health care. Those include demands to renew Obamacare premium subsidies that expire at the end of the year. 
"That's been our position week after week after week" Jeffries said. "And it will continue to be our position because the Republican health care crisis is crushing the American people." 
The GOP bill has failed in the Senate to get enough Democratic votes to advance 13 times, but is expected to get another vote Tuesday. 
On Monday, Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove) joined three other House centrists, two of them Republicans, in releasing what they called a "Statement of Principles" to extend the credits&nbsp;for two years. 
"Our hope is that this shared Statement of Principles will inspire bipartisan collaboration across Washington and help get Congress back to work for the American people," the group said in a joint statement. 
Also on Monday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture told a federal court that it will dip into a contingency fund to send states a partial amount of payments — 50% — of the usual food benefits under the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program for November, but that some states may see delays in that money.

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Shutdown Day 34: Optimistic talk from Republican leaders

Shutdown Day 34: What happened

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WASHINGTON — The federal government shutdown will continue at least through Monday — its 34th day — after the Senate adjourned on Thursday with no plans to reconvene until next week. 
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told reporters that conversations will continue between rank-and-file members through Monday, when lawmakers will gavel back into session. 
Thune said he was open to the possibility of creating a working group of senators to hash out a deal on Affordable Care Act health care subsidies that are set to expire. Senate Democrats have been withholding their support from a short-term spending bill, arguing that an extension of the subsidies needs to be part of any funding deal. The health insurance open enrollment period kicks off on Saturday. 
"I’ve lived through several government shutdowns in my time here. Nobody wins. And if there’s anything about it, it’s just the stupidity of it. This is something we ought to be able to work out," Thune said during a morning appearance on CNBC. 
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-Brooklyn), speaking to reporters, appeared to question Thune’s assertion earlier in the day that the ongoing talks between rank-and-file senators were a sign of progress. 
"It's not clear to me that John Thune is being accurate when he reports that there's an uptick in bipartisan communication," Jeffries said. "What communications is he talking about?" 
As the funding stalemate stretched past Day 30, both sides warned of the dire consequences. 
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle held news conferences raising concerns about the nearly 42 million Americans who rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) who will not receive their monthly stipend on Saturday due to the shutdown. 
Vice President JD Vance and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, appearing at the White House, also raised concerns about potential travel delays heading into Thanksgiving due to unpaid airport workers calling out sick, much as they did during the 35-day shutdown that occurred during President Donald Trump’s first term. 
"It could be a disaster," Vance said. "It really could be. Because at that point, we're talking about people who have missed three paychecks, they've missed four paychecks. How many of them are not going to show up for work?" 
Congressional staffers were set to join the ranks of other unpaid federal workers, missing their first monthly paycheck on Friday. 
Long Island’s four U.S. House members, whose paychecks are guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution regardless of a shutdown, said they have requested their paychecks be withheld until the government closure is over. 
GOP Reps. Nick LaLota (R-Amityville) and Andrew Garbarino (R-Bayport), along with Democratic Reps. Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove) and Laura Gillen (D-Rockville Centre), are among other members of Congress who have written to the House’s chief administrative officer, requesting a hold on their paychecks until the funding impasse is resolved. 
The House remained out of session, with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) refusing to reconvene his chamber until Senate Democrats agree to pass the short-term spending bill without the health care conditions. 
Johnson and other New York House Republicans on Thursday continued trying to link Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for New York City mayor, to the shutdown at a news conference attended by LaLota, Garbarino and other New York House members. 
Johnson accused Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Jeffries of working to placate the far-left voices of the Democratic Party. 
"They can feel the political winds," Johnson said. "And they know they have to continue to act belligerently in order to gain the favor of the far left."

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Shutdown Day 30: Senate out till next week

Shutdown Day 30: What happened

AIAudio - Shutdown Day 30: Senate out till next week


Whiffs of cautious optimism emerged Wednesday after congressional talks to end the U.S. government shutdown were making some headway, the rub being members on both sides were casting the other as about to crack. 
The shutdown entered its 30th day on Thursday. And while there have been ongoing informal talks between rank-and-file Senate Democrats through recent weeks, none have led to a resolution. 
But Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said he is expected&nbsp;to meet soon with a group of rank-and-file Democrats and that cross-party talks among other senators have "ticked up significantly." 
Some Republicans downplayed that much had really changed. And Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Republicans aren’t offering anything different. He did add, though, he was hopeful "that will change." Still, some senators were more quietly claiming they sensed a shift in mood by the other side toward wanting a deal. 
Such talk did not depict any formal break in the hiatus of direct negotiations between the top leaders from both parties in both chambers or the White House, as the president is set to return later this week from his trip to Asia. 
The notion of stepped-up other bipartisan conversations comes as Republicans see the pause of federal food aid on Saturday for 42 million Americans as motivation for Democrats to seek a shutdown resolution, along with other lapses in funding, such as federal worker pay. 
"They’re looking for an off-ramp," Thune said. 
Meanwhile, Schumer and other Democrats continue to say they won’t back down from their demands that a House GOP bill to reopen government must include a renewal or continuation of Obamacare subsidies, which are set to expire at the end of the year. 
As they see it, when millions of Americans begin to see in the coming days how their Obamacare premium costs will increase, along with the lapse in food aid, pressure will rise on Republicans to negotiate. 
"Right now, we're staring down the barrel at two crises at once — a health care crisis and a hunger crisis — and both are caused by one man: Donald Trump," Schumer said. 
Developments in the shutdown stalemate Thursday morning will feature input at House Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) daily press conference from four New York House Republicans: Reps. Nick LaLota of Amityville; Andrew Garbarino of Bayport; Mike Lawler of Pearl River; and Claudia Tenney of New Hartford. 
The lawmakers are expected to talk about the shutdown's impact on New York. But the topic of New York Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani is likely to come up, as it did on Wednesday from Johnson, when he tried to link Mamdani to the shutdown. 
"We can't allow a rise of Marxist and far-left activist in one party to shut down the entire operation of the federal government, and that is exactly what they are allowing them to do," Johnson said.

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Shutdown Day 29: Senate leader says Democrats looking for 'off-ramp'

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A federal judge on Tuesday indefinitely halted President Donald Trump’s efforts to slash at least 4,000 employees from the federal workforce during the government shutdown.&nbsp; 
San Francisco-based U.S. District Judge Susan Illston’s decision landed amid little progress in resolving the stalemate, which will move on Wednesday into its 29th day. 
In her decision, Illston again agreed&nbsp;with federal employee unions that the Trump administration’s attempted layoffs must be blocked until a lawsuit moves forward challenging the moves. The order extended her previously issued injunction, due to expire Wednesday. How many of the approximately 31,000 federal workers who live on Long Island are targeted in the proposed firings has not been made available. 
Tuesday's decision came&nbsp;as the Senate failed for a 13th time to advance a House GOP-passed funding bill to end the government shutdown. The final vote was 54-45, falling short of the 60 votes needed to move forward&nbsp;because no new Democrat votes were added in favor of advancing it. 
Democrats continue to demand adding language to prevent federal health subsidies that lower the costs of Affordable Care Act coverage from expiring. But Republicans refuse. 
The ongoing standoff also led Tuesday to sharper&nbsp;acrimony on a series of fronts, including over&nbsp;potentially more missed paychecks for federal workers and drying up of funding for government food, heating and other assistance. 
Both sides blamed the other for what will be a cutoff Saturday in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, commonly known as SNAP. About 42 million Americans will be without the November benefits of the program previously known as food stamps. More than two dozen states, including New York, filed suit Wednesday against the Trump administration, arguing the law requires the government to provide the funds. 
"It is a man-made Republican crisis because Donald Trump&nbsp;has decided that he wants to force millions of Americans, including possibly 16 million children, to experience hunger," said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-Brooklyn). 
Jeffries and other Democrats said the administration has emergency reserve funds it should release to fill in for the SNAP funding lapse, but wants to weaponize the issue. Speaker Mike Johnson and other Republicans said those funds can’t be legally tapped as a solution to a shutdown impasse. 
And the day also saw the public emergence of friction within the House Republican conference. 
After seeing what she characterized as incomplete reports of her complaints during a GOP conference call Tuesday, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) posted on X that she complained about Johnson keeping the House out of session for more than five weeks and not passing bills, and demanded to know from Johnson what the Republicans’ plans are for health care without the ACA tax credits. 
Trump remained on his tour of Asia. But during a visit Tuesday&nbsp;to meet with Senate Republicans, Vice President JD Vance said the administration has found a way to pay the military again, when their paychecks come due on Friday. 
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) seemed exasperated by all the talk about separate, one-off bills to fill&nbsp;areas of government-lapsed funding or reallocating money for&nbsp;different uses.&nbsp;He called on moderate Democrats to "take on their left-wing"&nbsp;and vote to "open [the government]&nbsp;up and have everybody get their benefits now."

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Shutdown Day 28: Judge nixes Trump admin's push to fire federal workers for now

Shutdown Day 28: Judge nixes push to fire 4,000 federal workers for now

AIAudio - Shutdown Day 28: Judge nixes Trump admin's push to fire federal workers for now


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WASHINGTON — The U.S. government shutdown enters its 28th day on Tuesday with the nation’s largest union of federal employees pleading for an end, and the Senate’s chaplain praying for that.&nbsp; 
But as of Monday night&nbsp;the next things set to end appeared to be&nbsp;the availability of funds to keep paying some federal workers, including air traffic controllers, and federal food aid that normally would go out on Nov. 1 to millions of Americans. 
Vice President JD Vance is set to visit with Senate Republicans about tariffs on Tuesday, though the shutdown is sure to also be a topic. 
With President Donald Trump traveling in Asia, and the GOP-led House remaining away from Washington for a fifth week, developments at the U.S. Capitol are focusing less on resolving government closure, than on taking remedial action to delay some of its harmful symptoms in the interim. 
Paused on Monday, at least for one day, was another round of voting in the Senate on a House-passed bill to reopen the government that has already failed 12 times to get enough Democratic votes to advance. 
Senate Democrats are continuing to demand that, for their needed vote support, language must be added that will renew Obamacare health tax credits due to expire at year’s end, to prevent the costs of health premiums from rising dramatically. Republicans continue to refuse. 
But Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) offered that there will be conversations with fellow Republicans this week on bringing up votes this week to get money to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program by week’s end. He also said standalone bills will be discussed to pay certain federal employees, such as air traffic controllers, and ensure later paychecks due to the military. 
There is no guarantee Senate Democrats would go along with such bills.&nbsp; 
Earlier, American Federation of Government Employees President Everett Kelley urged lawmakers in a statement to pass a short-term spending bill to end the shutdown, He wrote that "folks who serve this country are standing in line for food banks after missing a second paycheck because of this shutdown, they aren’t looking for partisan spin." 
Senate chaplain Barry Black opened the Senate later with a prayer urging senators to come together and reopen government, saying there are "no gold medals" for breaking records for longest government shutdowns.

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Shutdown Day 27: Big union seeks a resolution

Shutdown Day 27: What happened

AIAudio - Shutdown Day 27: Big union seeks a resolution


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The GOP-led House canceled votes Friday for a fifth week with still no hint of progress between congressional Republicans and Democrats to end the federal&nbsp;government shutdown, which on Saturday enters its 25th day. 
The White House is already suggesting the federal closure could stretch into the holiday season, potentially impacting travel. President Donald Trump’s departure Friday night for a multicountry trip to Asia&nbsp;at least delivers a definitive blow to any immediate resolution&nbsp;over the weekend and next days. 
The possibility of the government shutdown that began Oct. 1 becoming the nation’s longest ever is now very real. The record is 35 days, from late 2018 through early 2019, during Trump’s first term. 
The Senate is back in Washington next week. But in this stalemate, the House hasn’t voted at all since Sept. 19. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is sticking to a strategy of stopping legislative floor action to try to put pressure on Senate Democrats to finally help advance a House-passed bill to get funding temporarily flowing again to agencies. 
But that hasn’t worked in 12 votes so far in the Senate, the latest on Thursday. Democrats haven’t budged on their demand to add language that would renew Affordable Care Act — or Obamacare — subsidies, which help lower health insurance premiums, but are set to expire on Dec. 31. Republicans say those discussions can occur later. 
There have been predictions by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, that this upcoming week will be decisive in pushing one side&nbsp;or the other&nbsp;over the edge. 
The key date is Nov. 1, next Saturday. That is when federal funding runs out for federal food assistance and early education programs, and when other programs, such as heat assistance, will be forced into delays of their normal timelines with cold weather approaching. 
But the most pivotal significance of Nov. 1 is that day starts open enrollment for Obamacare. That means millions of Americans will start shopping for their 2026 health coverage plans and could be faced with sticker shock over the higher costs, reflecting that the federal tax breaks have still not been renewed. 
One scenario is Democrats will fold their tent that day,&nbsp;declaring their point has been made. Another is that Republicans will get hit with more pressure to renew the subsidies. 
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-Brooklyn) on Friday said he and other Democrats will not back down. Democrats have been circling that day, he said, because “once we hit open enrollment, and Republicans have still refused to act with Affordable Care Act tax credits, I think that’s going to increase the intensity and need for urgent action to take place.” 
He suggested that adjustments could still be made to policies retroactively, even if Congress does not act by Nov. 1 on the tax breaks.&nbsp;

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Government shutdown, Day 24: House cancels votes, no sign of progress toward end

Shutdown Day 24: House cancels votes, no sign of progress toward end

AIAudio - Government shutdown, Day 24: House cancels votes, no sign of progress toward end


AIAudio - Government shutdown, Day 24: House cancels votes, no sign of progress toward end

WASHINGTON — The federal government shutdown will stretch into next week after the Senate recessed on Thursday without passing a funding deal. 
The Senate is set to reconvene Monday afternoon, but efforts to reach a deal likely will be delayed as President Donald Trump embarks Friday on a weeklong trip to Asia. 
Trump, asked at the White House whether he believed a deal could be reached before he left for his trip, said he wasn’t sure. He continued to denounce congressional Democrats for withholding their support from a GOP-backed short-term spending bill as they seek guarantees of an extension to health care tax credits. 
"I think the Democrats have gone totally crazy," Trump said. 
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) took aim at Trump in a Senate floor speech for not negotiating a reopening deal before his trip. 
"He's flying off yet again to another corner of the world while people's premiums are set to skyrocket here at home," Schumer said. 
Two new bills aimed at paying federal government workers — one led by Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, the other by Democratic Sens. Gary Peters of Michigan and Chris Van Hollen of Maryland — each failed to pass in the Senate. But lawmakers from both sides of the aisle signaled a willingness to work over the weekend on compromise legislation. 
Johnson, the lead sponsor of a failed bill to pay essential government workers who have been ordered to work despite the pay lapse, told reporters on Capitol Hill he had "great conversations" with a number of Senate Democrats on the issue. He said he was open to Democrat-backed provisions to also pay furloughed federal workers. 
"I don’t want to completely constrain the president, but I don’t mind making sure that Congress has a say in this as well," Johnson told reporters. 
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), when asked about the likelihood of reaching a deal on paying federal workers, told reporters: "We’ll see. I mean if there’s headway made over the weekend and obviously we’re coordinating with Ron and his team and we’ll see where it goes."

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Shutdown Day 23: Stalemate continues with Trump leaving for Asia

Shutdown Day 23: What happened

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"It’s just shameful!" is how House Speaker Mike Johnson characterized&nbsp;the U.S. government shutdown, heading Thursday into its 23rd day and already the second-longest in the nation’s history. 
Johnson (R-La.) was not accepting any blame Wednesday on the part of Republicans or President Donald Trump in saying that. He was heaping it on the other party. "Democrats keep making history, but they're doing it for all the wrong reasons," Johnson said during a news conference. 
Later, top House Democrat&nbsp;Hakeem Jeffries (D-Brooklyn) was all too willing to remind of his party’s reasons. Republicans and Trump "have not made Americans’ lives better, they’ve made them worse," he said. That includes creating a "health care crisis." 
By early evening, for a 12th time, Senate Democrats did not&nbsp;give Republicans the extra votes necessary to advance a House-passed bill to get funding flowing again to shuttered agencies. Senate Democrats stuck to their demands to add language to extend Obamacare tax subsidies set to expire at the end of the year, and to reverse some recent Medicaid cuts. 
The 54-46 vote fell short of the 60 votes required to move forward, with no new Democrats crossing over to give the GOP help. The only real new twist was that before that vote — for 22-and-a-half hours — Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), held the Senate floor to warn about what he cast as Trump’s authoritarian agenda. 
The government shutdown has gone on so long — second now only to the 35-day partial closure that occurred during Trump’s first term at the end of 2018 through early 2019 — that even the stopgap funding bill that has been the center of the fight is getting outdated. 
As still written, it was intended to give lawmakers an extra 7 weeks from the official Oct. 1 start of this federal fiscal year through Nov. 21 to finally reach deals and write full-year bills. But in the standoff, three of those seven weeks of hoped-for extra time to negotiate have already expired. 
&nbsp;Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and others have begun to talk about potentially of rewriting the bill and extending the status quo spending levels later into the year, or even into early 2026. 
But for that to happen, Johnson would have to call the House back to vote again — something the chamber has not done since Sept. 19. And there still would be no guarantee that Democrats would go along with that new version, either, unless their health care demands are met.

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Shutdown Day 22: Parties trade blame, with no end in sight

Shutdown Day 22: What happened

AIAudio - Shutdown Day 22: Parties trade blame, with no end in sight


WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump hosted Senate Republicans at the White House on Tuesday — the 21st day of the federal government shutdown — and signaled that he would not reopen talks with congressional Democrats on the issue of health care subsidies unless they vote for a short-term spending bill. 
"We will not be extorted on this crazy plot of theirs," Trump said at a Rose Garden luncheon as he railed against Democrats who are seeking an extension of health care tax credits in exchange for support of a stopgap spending bill. 
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries continued to press Trump for a meeting to negotiate an extension of the subsidies, arguing that open enrollment for millions of Americans is set to begin Nov. 1 and premiums&nbsp;are expected to increase without the subsidies in place. 
"The decisions made or not in the next 10 days will determine whether working families can afford their health care next year," Schumer said at a news conference on Capitol Hill. "And Americans are desperately looking to Republicans, the party in the majority, to do something about it." 
Schumer told reporters he and Jeffries reached out&nbsp;to Trump&nbsp;directly on Tuesday&nbsp;and are willing to meet "any time, any place" before Trump leaves Friday for a weeklong trip to Asia. 
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), speaking to reporters after the meeting with Trump, said Republicans would not engage in negotiations over the subsidies until Democrats provide the needed votes to pass the short-term spending bill. 
"People keep saying ‘negotiate’ — negotiate what?" Thune said, adding he plans to schedule another&nbsp;floor vote on the bill on Wednesday. So far, the bill has failed to pass the chamber 11 times. 
&nbsp;House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who also joined Thune in meeting with Trump, wrote in a post on X that Trump "confirmed he is ready and willing for the three of us to meet with Leader Jeffries and Sen. Schumer as soon as Schumer reopens the government." 
Amid all the partisan fighting, Reps. Nick LaLota (R-Amityville) and Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove) are set to appear at a “Pancakes &amp; Policy” forum sponsored by the Huntington Chamber of Commerce at the Cinema Arts Centre on Friday, according to a flyer on the chamber’s website. 
Newsday's Billy House contributed to this story.

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Shutdown Day 21: Trump says he won't be 'extorted'

Shutdown Day 21: What happened

AIAudio - Shutdown Day 21: Trump says he won't be 'extorted'


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WASHINGTON — The U.S. government shutdown moves into its 21st day Tuesday with new but cryptic&nbsp;signs of movement in talks between the two sides. 
"Speaker Johnson and I had a conversation this weekend," House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said Monday to reporters at the Capitol. He then abruptly ended his press conference with that. "Thank you. Thank you everyone." 
Jeffries had been saying as recently as late last week that he and Speaker Mike Johnson (D-La.,) were not having any formal negotiations, and that he and other Republican leaders had gone "radio silent." 
Aides to both men did not add any more substance regarding their discussion. "Private convo," responded a Johnson spokesman. 
Word of their weekend talk came as Johnson earlier Monday said he was planning to speak to President Donald Trump. Democrats, including Jeffries, have been saying Trump needs to get more involved in the negotiations between congressional Republicans and Democrats. 
Trump is set to leave the U.S. later this month for a visit through Asia that could last five or six days. 
Later Monday, the Senate again went through its now-routine exercise of another failed vote on a House-passed bill to start money flowing again to shuttered federal agencies. 
The bill failed for an 11th time, with Democrats still not giving Republican enough added votes to advance the bill under Senate rules. Democrats kept to their demand for language to be attached that would also prevent Obamacare tax subsidies from expiring at the end of the year, which Republicans have refused to do. 
There also was no sign that Johnson was intending to call the House back into session to vote this week, something the House has not done since Sept. 19. In fact, since July 4, the House has conducted just 20 days of business in 16 weeks. 
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) is expected to bring up a separate bill later this week in his chamber, however, to address pay for federal civilian and military service members&nbsp;who have continued working during the funding lapse. Johnson said he might call House members back to vote on that if the Senate passed it, but doubted that would happen because it also would require support from Democrats in that chamber. 
Meanwhile, Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy said there could be more travel disruptions, during an appearance Monday morning on "Fox and Friends." He said air traffic controllers’ next paychecks are due next Tuesday, "and in that paycheck there will be no dollars," if the shutdown continues. 
Working without pay, he predicted, will lead to more controllers "looking for a way to get cash in their pockets" and feed their families. "I think what you might see is more disruptions in travel," he said, offering that he’s heard some controllers are "taking Uber jobs and Door Dash"

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Shutdown Day 20: House leaders talk but won't say about what

Shutdown Day 20: What happened

AIAudio - Shutdown Day 20: House leaders talk but won't say about what


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Congressional Republicans on Saturday angled to keep focus on the ongoing U.S. government shutdown, even as demonstrators marched to the National Mall and in events across Long Island and the nation during a "No Kings"&nbsp;protest.. On Sunday, the federal agency closure was to move into its 20th day. If not resolved by Monday, it will officially become the third-longest in history. “Holding the government hostage and marching alongside communists while our troops and officers go unpaid isn’t loving America — it’s betraying it,” declared one of dozens of postings Saturday by the official House Republican account, But Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) – declaring in an X-posting he was “proudly marching” at the events in New York City – included photos of himself holding a sign bearing the central mantra for Democrats in shutdown face-off: “Fix The Health Care Crisis” Meanwhile. Democrats on the House Homeland Security Committee Saturday blasted Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem following a New York Times report her department has purchased two Gulfstream private jets for Noem and other top department officials at a cost of $172 million, according to documents. Top committee Democrat Bennie Thompson (D-Miss) released a statement saying the purchase was rejected by Congress earlier this year&nbsp;and, “The fact that she’s doing it during a federal government shutdown while most of the DHS workforce is working without pay is completely vile.” The Senate on Friday failed for a 10th time to advance a House-passed bill that would start dollars reflowing and reopen agencies. Senate Democrats continued to hold-out their needed votes for demands that language be added to extend the life of Obamacare tax credits, due to expire at the end of the year. But there was some new discussion from Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) late in the week that suggested conversations were happening about a potential separate vote on that issue, and how that would happen. The Senate is scheduled to reconvene and vote on Monday for the 11th time on the House legislation to end the shutdown. As of Saturday, however, the House planned under Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.,) to remain out of session, as part of a Johnson strategy geared to wait-out Senate Democratic action on the funding bill. The House has not voted since Sept. 19.&nbsp; The judicial branch announced that starting on Monday, it will no longer have enough funding to keep up regular operations. Federal judges will serve, but court staff and some activities may be limited.

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Shutdown Day 19: Republicans try to keep focus on stalemate amid 'No Kings' protests

Shutdown Day 19: Republicans try to keep focus on stalemate

AIAudio - Shutdown Day 19: Republicans try to keep focus on stalemate amid 'No Kings' protests 


AIAudio - Shutdown Day 19: Republicans try to keep focus on stalemate amid 'No Kings' protests

WASHINGTON — The U.S. government shutdown on Friday reaches a tie for the fourth-longest in the nation’s history, after another failed Senate vote on a Republican bill to reopen government. 
No additional Democrats on Thursday joined Republicans on the shutdown’s 16th day to advance the House-passed bill. That was the 10th time the bill has fallen short of the 60 Senate votes needed to move forward. 
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) later adjourned his chamber until Monday. If that adjournment holds, as expected, and agencies are not reopened, the shutdown that began on Oct. 1 will reach its 20th day on Monday, then will become the nation’s third-longest. 
Friday also marks the day that President Donald Trump warned earlier this week he will be releasing a list of federal programs slated for chopping. 
Trump said the cuts this time will be specifically aimed at pressuring blue-state Democrats to give in on their demands in the government funding standoff. 
Democrats want language tacked onto the House-passed stopgap bill to renew expiring Obamacare health subsidies. Unless those tax breaks are prevented from expiring at the end of the year, as scheduled, millions of Americans will see cost spikes in their insurance premiums. 
In a meeting Thursday with Newsday and several other outlets, House Speaker Hakeem Jeffries (D-Brooklyn) said the "Trump administration has been trying to engage in these intimidation tactics for months now." 
But he said that Trump — being from Queens — should know that people in New York are not easily intimidated. 
In the Senate Thursday, Thune brought a procedural vote on a second — but a longer-term — defense funding bill. But that bill failed to gain enough Democratic votes to advance, getting just three supporters. But more stand-alone bills involving pay for federal workers are expected to be brought to Senate votes next week — moves intended to turn up the pressure on Democrats. 
Thune also said Thursday on MSNBC that he has guaranteed to Senate Democrats they can have a vote on a separate bill extending the health care tax credits they are demanding — but that offer appeared to mean a vote after government is reopened. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) denied that Thune has come to him with such an offer, and also said he is not going to negotiate in public.

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Shutdown Day 16: Senate adjourns until Monday

Shutdown Day 16: How it happened

AIAudio - Shutdown Day 16: Senate adjourns until Monday


WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate tried and failed for a ninth time Wednesday to pass a short-term spending bill as the federal government shutdown entered its third week. 
On Day 15 of the shutdown, President Donald Trump’s top budget adviser vowed to continue laying off thousands of furloughed federal workers, even as a federal court judge ordered the Trump Administration to temporarily pause layoffs it launched over the past few days. 
White House Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought, appearing on "The Charlie Kirk Show" podcast, said layoffs will "probably end up being north of 10,000” federal workers. 
"We’re going to keep those [reductions in force] rolling throughout the shutdown, because we think it’s important to stay on offense for the American taxpayer," Vought said. 
Meanwhile, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston, a Clinton appointee, ordered the temporary suspension of layoffs initiated by the administration during the second week of the shutdown. 
Illston, presiding over a lawsuit filed by a coalition of federal employee unions, said she believed the unions will&nbsp;likely prove that the administration’s push to layoff furloughed workers during a shutdown is "both illegal and in excess of authority and is arbitrary and capricious," according to media reports. 
Trump signed an order directing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to divert Pentagon funds from other projects to ensure military service members are paid this week despite the funding lapse. 
Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska&nbsp;joined a group of Democratic lawmakers&nbsp;in urging the administration to guarantee back pay for furloughed workers and those essential employees currently working without pay. 
"The law is clear: all impacted government employees, regardless of excepted or furloughed status, are entitled to back pay after a government shutdown ends," reads the letter signed by more than 150 congressional Democrats including Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove),

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Shutdown Day 15: Another Senate vote fails, administration vows more layoffs

Shutdown Day 15: What happened

AIAudio - Shutdown Day 15: Another Senate vote fails, administration vows more layoffs


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Senate Republicans on Tuesday failed for an eighth time to advance a House-passed measure to temporarily fund and reopen the government, unable to pick up any new Democratic votes to support the measure. 
That means the U.S. government shutdown will enter its third week Wednesday,&nbsp;its 15th day,&nbsp;as there was still no sign of progress later Tuesday in the standoff. 
Another dubious milepost could come as quickly as Friday. If the shutdown is not resolved by then, it would become the second-longest in U.S. history. Only the 35-day shutdown in 2018-19 in a fight over President Donald Trump’s demand for border wall funding would have been longer. 
At the White House Tuesday, Trump amped up his threats. That included dragging New York’s Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani into the fight. Trump told reporters he intends on Friday to release a list of "Democratic programs" that will be permanently cut under the shutdown. 
"I’m not going to send a lot of money to New York, because I don’t have to," Trump said, asserting again that Mamdani is not a democratic socialist, but a communist — and ignoring the fact Congress appropriates money to cities and states under federal programs. He said, "The funding comes through the White House, and "I would not be generous to a communist who's gonna take the money and throw it out the window." 
A Mamdani spokeswoman provided no immediate response. 
House Republicans on Tuesday were still not in session. The chamber has not voted since Sept. 19, and Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) early in the day reasserted he won't call the House back until Senate Democrats lend their needed votes to the House-passed bill and end the shutdown. 
Meantime, he and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) refuse to negotiate with Democrats over health care tax credits they want extended, before they expire at the end of the year — with language they insist be attached to the funding bill. 
Johnson himself has been holding daily news conferences, however. On Wednesday, Long Island Rep. Nick LaLota (R-Amityville) will join the speaker. Topics will include the Trump administration’s actions over the weekend to ensure active military members did not miss their paychecks on Wednesday. 
House Democrats did return to the Capitol and gathered in a closed-door caucus Tuesday night. After that meeting, some Democratic members — including those in the Democratic Women’s Caucus — marched to Johnson’s office to demand he swear-in Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva (D-Ariz.) to Congress. 
Grijalva last month won a special election to replace her late father, former Rep. Raúl Grijalva, but Johnson has refused to swear her in. He says that will happen after the House returns to session — which he then insists will occur once the Senate Democrats agree to help pass the bill to reopen government. 
Some Democrats have accused Johnson and Republicans of not wanting Grijalva seated because she will provide the final signature needed on a petition to force a floor vote on legislation calling on the Justice Department to release all of its files on late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

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Shutdown Day 14: No progress, new threats from Trump

Shutdown Day 14: What to know

AIAudio - Shutdown Day 14: No progress, new threats from Trump


WASHINGTON — House Speaker Mike Johnson on Monday slammed as "a boondoggle" the expiring Obamacare premium tax breaks, escalating his attacks against Democrats demanding renewal of those subsidies to end the U.S. government shutdown. 
Unless Democrats soften their position, Johnson (R-La.) warned, "We’re barreling toward one of the longest shutdowns in American history." He said those subsidies that lower costs of health care for millions of Americans are in need of significant reforms, and immediate renewal is not a "deliverable" amid the urgency of this shutdown standoff. 
The Senate returns to session&nbsp;Tuesday on what will be the 14th day of government closure, expecting to vote for an eighth time on a straightforward House-passed GOP bill to provide new funding and reopen agencies. The longest federal government shutdown was a partial one that lasted 35 days, occurring from late 2018 to early 2019 during President Donald Trump's previous term. 
But as of Monday, Senate Democrats were giving no new inclination to help Republicans get a bill through to replenish agency coffers through Nov. 21. Republicans have been five votes short. 
Democrats, meanwhile, amped up their criticism of Johnson’s decision to continue keeping House Republicans out of session&nbsp;this week. The chamber has not held a vote since Sept. 19. 
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-Brooklyn) said on MSNBC Monday that House and Senate Republican leaders "have basically gone radio silent" in terms of negotiating with himself and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). He said that's "because they decided they wanted to shut down the government. They're trying to visit pain on the American people." 
Even if the House is not in session, Jeffries has called on the chamber’s Democrats to gather at a closed-door caucus at the Capitol on Tuesday night, to be followed in the week by other public events. 
&nbsp;Trump returned Monday from a Middle East trip that included the signing of the peace deal to end the war in Gaza. Johnson asserted that Trump remains firmly behind congressional Republicans. "He and I are both so frustrated that Democrats are perfectly happy to do all this damage while they play political stunts," Johnson said at a Capitol news conference. 
Before leaving for overseas, Trump and his lieutenants had initiated thousands of federal employee layoffs, sending out 60-day notices to workers from a variety of agencies — and more layoffs are expected to be announced. 
Trump did instruct that money be found to pay active-duty members of the military their next paychecks, due Wednesday. The Pentagon over the weekend said the funding has been located. 
But questions remained about paying members of the Coast Guard. Monday night, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem posted on X that the issue had been resolved, and Coast Guard members wouldn’t miss paychecks this week. 
"President Donald Trump did not want any of our military to go without pay as a result of Democrats' political theater, and we at DHS worked out an innovative solution to make sure that didn't happen," she wrote, without giving details.

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Shutdown Day 13: No progress, but Senate ready to return

Shutdown Day 13: What happened

AIAudio - Shutdown Day 13: No progress, but Senate ready to return


Added drama arrived on the 10th day of the U.S. government shutdown as President Donald Trump said he was unleashing&nbsp;what he called "Democratic-oriented" layoffs to occur in programs that Democrats like.&nbsp; 
Trump promised Friday, "It’ll be a lot" of them. 
"Deliberate chaos," responded Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). He accused Trump and White House Budget Director Russl Vought of "callously choosing to hurt people" with the layoffs. 
Vought telegraphed the firings in a social media post&nbsp;earlier Friday. Energy Department, Environmental Protection Agency and other employees have already started getting notices, and as many as 4,000 in at least seven agencies are being targeted. 
Schumer and other opponents accused Trump and his administration of using the federal closure as a pretext to make cuts they wanted, regardless. 
There remained little public movement toward a resolution. Democrats continued to demand that any bill to start money flowing to federal agencies include language to renew soon-to-expire COVID-era Obamacare tax credits. 
But Republicans continued to refuse. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) announced Friday that he is not bringing the House back to vote next week. Johnson reiterated he will summon legislators only if Democrats provide the needed Senate votes to advance the already House-passed bill, as is. 
The continued standoff on Friday prompted the Association for a Better Long Island to send an open letter to the Long Island congressional delegation. It warned that the nation, state&nbsp;and region already have&nbsp;begun to suffer economic damage.

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Shutdown Day 10: Trump firings begin

Shutdown Day 10: How it happened

AIAudio - Shutdown Day 10: Trump firings begin


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"Stop the madness!" urged Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Thursday to Democrats, but there emerged little sign on the ninth day of the U.S. government shutdown of any bipartisan exit ramp. 
For a seventh time, Johnson’s House-approved GOP bill to refund agencies failed to advance in the Senate, in a 54-45 vote. The GOP needs eight votes from across the political aisle to help move the bill, but that number stayed at just three, where it has been. 
Democrats continued to demand that language be added to renew Obamacare subsidies that are set to expire in January&nbsp;to protect millions of Americans from significant premium cost spikes next year. 
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump accused Democrats of "using health care as a cudgel." He returned to warning that government programs could be cut if the shutdown doesn't end. 
"We'll be making cuts that will be permanent, and we're only going to cut Democrat programs," Trump said. 
Amid this back and forth, military service members remained uncertain whether they will get their next scheduled paycheck next&nbsp; Wednesday&nbsp;because those would have to be processed by Monday. 
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-Schuylerville), a potential GOP candidate for New York governor next year, broke ranks with Johnson to echo more than 100 members from both parties calling for a standalone vote to pay the military during the shutdown. 
Still, Johnson continued to indicate he’s not bringing the House back to session to do that, and won’t do so until government is reopened. 
"We’ve done our work," Johnson reiterated Thursday during a news&nbsp;conference at the U.S. Capitol, referring to the GOP bill the House passed on Sept. 19 that could reopen government with new funding. That was the last day the House voted. 
House Minority&nbsp;Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) later resurrected his own line about mental stability, saying the definition of insanity is putting the same bill on the Senate floor "over and over and over again and expecting a different result." 
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) also offered no hint at backing off, demanding the renewal of the Obamacare tax credits. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) has indicated he’d allow a vote on that, but only after government is reopened.

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Shutdown Day 9: Stalemate continues with another failed Senate vote

Shutdown Day 9: Stalemate continues

AIAudio - Shutdown Day 9: Stalemate continues with another failed Senate vote


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WASHINGTON — The eighth day of the federal shutdown saw tensions flare Wednesday between lawmakers in U.S. Capitol hallways, no deal on how to keep military service members paid&nbsp;and a sixth failed Senate vote for new funding that could have reopened agencies. 
The Senate’s inability once again to advance a House-passed funding bill and a competing Democratic bill&nbsp;reflected no visible progress in the standoff. The Republican measure to replenish agency coffers until Nov. 21 fell short 47-52, needing eight non-GOP votes — still stuck at just three political aisle-jumpers. 
Meanwhile, the last time the House was in session was Sept. 19. Speaker Mike Johnson said Wednesday he has&nbsp;no plans to call members back to Washington — even to take up a standalone measure that would keep military paychecks flowing. 
Service members could miss their Oct. 15 paycheck if Congress doesn't act on a bill — or unless the White House somehow rejiggers funding from some other source. But Johnson said he is not going to heed the calls in a letter signed by dozens of Democrats — included Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove) and Rep. Laura Gillen (D-Rockville Centre) — urging him to summon the House back into session to act on that issue. 
Johnson said&nbsp;at a news conference that troops would have been fully funded in the House-passed bill that keeps failing now without Democratic help in the Senate — and thus, in the House, "We already had that vote." 
But Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) underscored that Republicans must negotiate with Democrats over extending or continuing expiring Obamacare health care tax credits that millions of Americans rely on before his party will support a bill to reopen government. 
There was no evidence negotiations between centrists from both parties were making progress on that front. 
However, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) did show a softening in his position that a one-year extension of those subsidies — as opposed to making them permanent — was something he would not consider as a compromise. 
He said his current position remains that a permanent extension is needed for enrollees, but that, "At the end of the day, the [House Democratic] Caucus in good faith will evaluate anything presented by the Senate." 
That was a shift from Tuesday, when Jeffries called a one-year extension "laughable," even though that's what is called for in a bipartisan bill on which Suozzi is the lead Democratic sponsor and which other House Democrats support. 
Even with the House not officially in session, there were run-ins Wednesday between some Republican and Democratic lawmakers who were at the Capitol. In one that was caught widely on video, Rep. Mike Lawler (R-Pearl River) challenged Jeffries in a hallway to back the&nbsp;Suozzi-sponsored bill, which he supports. 
But not even Lawler’s own Republican Party leaders have indicated backing a one-year extension as a compromise to end the shutdown. "We've got a one-year extension, why don't you sign on right now?" Lawler asked. At one point, Jeffries responded, "Did you get permission from your boss? Did your boss Donald Trump give you permission?" 
To all of this, Suozzi — who like all but one House Democrat did not vote for the Republican funding bill in September — said in a statement: "Everyone needs to take a deep breath and remember why we came to Congress." 
He urged that the House return&nbsp;to Washington and hammer out a deal to both reopen the government and make sure health care costs "don’t skyrocket on Jan.&nbsp;1."

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Shutdown Day 8: Sixth Senate vote fails amid tensions

Shutdown Day 8: How it unfolded

AIAudio - Shutdown Day 8: Sixth Senate vote fails amid tensions


WASHINGTON — The future pay status of federal workers emerged as a top issue on Tuesday, as the shutdown dragged past its seventh day without&nbsp;resolution. 
With both sides entrenched in their positions, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) did not schedule a floor vote on a short-term spending bill that has previously failed five times along mostly partisan-lines. 
Meanwhile, a memo floated by the White House Office of Management and Budget questioned whether furloughed workers were entitled to back pay under a 2019 law&nbsp;President Donald Trump signed during his first term after a series of shutdowns. 
The memo argues that the law makes no automatic guarantee of backpay without congressional action, but lawmakers from both sides of the aisle countered that the intent of the law was to assure workers’ pay would be safe. 
Trump, asked by reporters if he supported paying furloughed workers said: "It really depends on who you're talking about." 
Congressional Democrats decried the memo, with House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries telling reporters: "The law is clear, and we will make sure that law is followed." 
House Speaker Mike Johnson said there would be "discussions" surrounding the OMB memo but that he hoped "that the furloughed workers receive back pay, of course." 
Thune (R-S.D.), urged Democrats to support the funding bill, saying "This week paychecks start getting affected for federal workers." 
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) continued to call on Republicans to negotiate a deal with Democrats to break the stalemate: "Republicans should understand that they cannot go forward unless we come to a bipartisan agreement to address the health care crisis facing America." 
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries meanwhile&nbsp;dismissed a proposal for a one-year extension of expiring Obamacare tax credits as a compromise solution to what’s become a main issue in the shutdown. He called it "laughable" that any Democrats would back anything less than a permanent extension — although Long Island Rep. Tom Suozzi is leading 11 other House Democrats who’ve joined some Republicans in that push. &nbsp;

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Shutdown Day 7: New focus on back pay for furloughed workers

Shutdown Day 7: How it unfolded

AIAudio - Shutdown Day 7: New focus on back pay for furloughed workers


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The U.S. Senate for a fifth time failed to pass a Republican-backed short-term spending bill on Monday, ensuring the federal government shutdown would stretch into a seventh day. 
Despite the partisan impasse over a funding bill, President Donald Trump signaled a willingness to speak with congressional Democrats on the issue of health care. Democrats are demanding a renewal of soon-to-expire health care subsidies in exchange for their support of the stopgap spending bill. 
"We have a negotiation going on right now with the Democrats that could lead to very good things, and I'm talking about good things with regard to health care," Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday before the Senate vote. 
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-Brooklyn) both said there were no current talks between Democrats and the White House, as Trump claimed, but said they are open to reviving discussions after a meeting with Trump last week failed to yield a compromise. 
Schumer in a statement said: "Trump’s claim isn’t true — but if he’s finally ready to work with Democrats, we’ll be at the table." 
Earlier in the day, Jeffries challenged House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to a floor debate over the impasse, as Johnson continues to hold the chamber in recess. 
Jeffries in a letter to Johnson said a debate would "give you an opportunity to explain your 'my way or the highway' approach to shutting the government down, when Democratic votes are needed to resolve the impasse that exists." 
Johnson, speaking to reporters, rejected Jeffries' invitation, calling it "nonsense."

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Shutdown Day 6: Senate votes again, with same outcome

Shutdown Day 6: How it unfolded

AIAudio - Shutdown Day 6: Senate votes again, with same outcome


The&nbsp;ongoing government shutdown is leading to concern among veterans who are worried about losing their benefits and support services. NewsdayTV&rsquo;s Virginia Huie reports.

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How the government shutdown is impacting veterans

Amagansett

Newsday

'It's a real problem'

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The U.S. government shutdown creeps into its first weekend after the Senate on Friday failed for a fourth time to find&nbsp;enough bipartisan votes to advance bills to replenish dried-up agency funding. 
There are now stronger signs the&nbsp;federal closure could be protracted.&nbsp;Speaker Mike Johnson even scrapped plans for House members – most of whom already have been away for two weeks -- to return next week to Washington for votes. 
Plans can change. But Johnson had said earlier Friday – the third day of the shutdown – that the House will be back in session when Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) "allows us to reopen the government." That was a reference to Senate Democrats not lending enough votes to help advance a House-passed bill to provide agency funding for another seven weeks. 
President Donald Trump also made news with word that a massive cut to federal counterterrorism funding for police on Long Island and in New York City has been reversed. 
But the partisan funding battle that has centered mostly on Democratic demands to add healthcare provisions remained stuck in the mud. 
And in a complicated plotline twist, Schumer reacted to news the House wasn’t returning by saying, “Johnson and the House Republicans care more about protecting the Epstein files than protecting the American people.” 
That charge from Schumer and other Democrats is that Johnson is&nbsp;trying to stall the official swearing-in of Representative-elect Adelita Grijalva (D-Ariz.). He is doing that, the Democrats say, because Grijalva is expected to provide the final signature needed on a petition to force a House vote to compel the Trump administration to release files related Jeffrey Epstein, the late convicted sex&nbsp;offender.

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Shutdown Day 3: Senate votes again, with the same outcome

Shutdown Day 3: How it unfolded

AIAudio - Shutdown Day 3: Senate votes again, with the same outcome


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WASHINGTON — The second day of the U.S. government’s shutdown offered little sign of a resolution, with House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries saying direct communication remained non-existent with President Donald Trump and GOP congressional leaders. 
Trump was publicly adding to his threats of mass firings of federal workers. He made it clear in a social media post and elsewhere Thursday that if the shutdown continues, he and his lieutenants will be targeting some of the "many Democrat&nbsp;Agencies." 
There was a complete pause in legislative activity at the Capitol, with no votes in either chamber. The House has not been in session all week and the Senate did not convene for votes in honor of Yom Kippur. 
But Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said Democrats will have another opportunity on Friday afternoon to join Republicans&nbsp;in voting for a clean, short-term bill to reopen the government. 
That would be a fourth Senate effort to advance that House-passed bill, legislation that could replenish the dried-up funding for shuttered agencies. Three early attempts failed to gain enough Democratic votes to move the bill, as required under that chamber’s rules. 
In an interview with NBC that aired Thursday night, Thune said senators likely would not hold votes over the weekend even if the bill fails to be advanced&nbsp;for a fourth time. That would extend&nbsp;the shutdown until at least Monday, when the House is scheduled to be back in Washington.

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Shutdown Day 2: Threats of mass government firings, no action in Congress

Shutdown Day 2: How it unfolded

AIAudio - Shutdown Day 2: Threats of mass government firings, no action in Congress 


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Federal government shutdown: Day-by-day recap

Federal government shutdown: Day-by-day recap

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