The government shutdown entered its second day on Thursday with no sign of a breakthrough, as congressional leaders seemed resigned to the impasse stretching into next week.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters it was “unlikely” senators would remain in Washington through the weekend, while House Speaker Mike Johnson declared Republicans had “nothing to negotiate.”
The standoff has hardened around Democrats’ push to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies that are set to expire this fall, which they say are critical to keeping premiums stable for millions of Americans. Republicans have flatly rejected including the subsidies in a stopgap funding bill, insisting the government must first be reopened before any policy negotiations can occur. The dispute has frozen negotiations, leaving agencies scrambling to shutter offices and brace for potential layoffs.
The Senate is expected to take up the Republican-backed measure again Friday, but it remains at least five votes short of passage. “If that fails, we’ll give them the weekend to think about it,” Thune told reporters. “Then we’ll come back and vote on Monday.”
Johnson dismissed any talk of compromise, telling reporters on Thursday: “I quite literally have nothing to negotiate.”
Their comments suggest that Republicans remain largely unified in their refusal to make concessions—and comfortable with the mounting disruptions—even as early polling largely indicates that more voters blame President Donald Trump and Republicans for the shutdown. That early data has emboldened Democrats, who appear committed to their strategy, and have shown no sign of backing down despite Trump’s repeated threats to fire federal workers and cut benefits that Democrats have long championed.
Trump met Thursday with budget director Russell Vought to discuss “temporary or permanent” spending cuts, including mass layoffs of federal workers, going beyond the furloughs that usually accompany shutdowns. The Trump Administration has already moved to withhold billions of dollars from infrastructure and green energy projects in states former Democratic nominee Kamala Harris won in last year’s presidential election.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer accused Republicans of deliberately weaponizing the shutdown. “Trump’s so-called ‘maximum pain’ plan isn’t hurting Democrats—it’s hurting American families,” he said.
Yet beneath the surface of Republican unity, some cracks are visible. Sen. Mike Rounds, a South Dakota Republican, floated a one-year extension of the health care subsidies during a Senate floor vote on Wednesday, an idea that attracted attention from Democrats and some rank-and-file Republicans. While far from a breakthrough, it hinted at a potential off-ramp should the shutdown drag on.
Still, the path forward remains murky. Federal agencies could soon lay off large portions of their workforce, while others deemed essential will remain on the job without pay. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has warned that as many as 750,000 workers could be furloughed on any given day, with $400 million in daily wages lost.
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