The United States (U.S.) government shutdown is set to be dragged into next week after a failed Senate vote on Friday left lawmakers deadlocked over a temporary funding bill.
This means the partial closure of the U.S. government will enter at least next week Monday amid concerns over federal workers and essential services nationwide.
Pan-Atlantic Kompass reports that the latest development occurred after the Republicans caucus at the Senate attempted to lift the government shutdown on Friday.
However, the move failed on a largely party-line 54-44 vote for a fourth time, with the same trio of Senate Democratic caucus members — Sens. John Fetterman, D-Pa.; Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev.; and Angus King, I-Maine — joining most Republicans in backing the bill.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) announced that the chamber would likely adjourn for the weekend without further action, effectively pushing any resolution past Monday and amplifying the political and economic fallout from the impasse.
The shutdown, the first since the 35-day closure in late 2018-2019 during President Donald Trump’s first term, began at midnight on October 1 after fiscal year 2025 funding expired without congressional approval.
Republicans, controlling the White House and slim majorities in both chambers, passed a “clean” stopgap bill in the House on September 19, but it has repeatedly stalled in the Senate due to Democratic demands for concessions, including extensions of Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits set to expire at year’s end and safeguards against unilateral funding rescissions by the executive branch.
Democrats’ alternative proposal, which would fund operations through October’s end while boosting health spending by up to $1 trillion, was also blocked along party lines.
Reacting to the latest development, Senate Majority Leader, Thune said he would continue to bring the bill to the floor again and again in a bid to chip away at Democrats’ largely unified front.
He lamented the work that could be happening, like advancing spending bills and negotiating other bipartisan priorities, on the Senate floor rather than repeating the same exercise of trying to reopen the government.
He asserted: “They have taken hostage the federal government and, by extension, the American people, who are the only losers in this.
“Everybody’s talking about who wins and who loses and who gets the blame. That’s not what this is about. This is about doing what’s in the best interest of the American people. And what’s in the best interest of the American people is keeping the government open and operating so it can continue to work on their behalf.”
Meanwhile, Senate Democrats, led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., in his reaction demanded that they get a seat at the table to negotiate a bipartisan continuing resolution (CR).
Their main rallying cry has been pushing for an extension to expiring Obamacare tax credits, which Senate Republicans have said they would consider only after the government is reopened. While the credits don’t expire until the end of the year, Democrats argue that if Congress doesn’t act now, people who use Obamacare will see their healthcare premiums skyrocket.
“We know Americans want this, and we know many of my Republican colleagues want this as well,” Schumer said. “But failure to act would be devastating. And Republicans know it. Even Donald Trump knows it. He talked about it a little bit with us in the White House.”
Some Democrats also view the shutdown as a way to stand up to President Donald Trump.
“The truth is, we shut down the government because Republicans wouldn’t negotiate, because Donald Trump wants to shut down,” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said. “He’s just bragging in the Oval Office about how good a shutdown will be for him. And we’re going to talk about the consequences of Republicans continuing to push these giant healthcare increases on people and the consequences of a lawless president.”
Pan-Atlantic Kompass also reports that on Friday, the U.S Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought announced that due to the government shutdown the agency has put on hold $2.8 billion in Chicago infrastructure project funding.
Recall also that the government shutdown is expected to lead to the furlough of an estimated 750,000 federal employees and trigger the temporary closure of a slew of government programs and offices.
The Trump administration, which was already working to shrink the size of the government, is warning that the shutdown could lead to permanent layoffs of thousands of federal workers — despite that not happening during prior funding lapses.
