Sept. 20, 2025:
WASHINGTON (AP) — As a possible federal shutdown looms, the Democratic leaders of Congress are demanding a meeting with President Donald Trump to negotiate an end to what they call “your decision” to shutter government offices if no action is taken by the end-of-the month deadline.
Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries said Saturday (Sept. 20, 2025) that Republicans, at Trump’s insistence, have refused to enter talks. Democrats are pushing to preserve health care programs as part of any deal to keep government running past the Sept. 30 funding deadline.
“We write to demand a meeting in connection with your decision to shut down the federal government because of the Republican desire to continue to gut the healthcare of the American people,” the two New York Democrats wrote.
“Democrats have been clear and consistent in our position,” they said. “We are ready to work toward a bipartisan spending agreement that improves the lives of American families and addresses the Republican healthcare crisis.”
There was no immediate response from the White House.
Congress, which is controlled by Republicans, failed to address the funding issue before lawmakers left town Friday for a break.
The House approved a Republican proposal to keep the federal government funded into November, but the measure failed in the Senate. A Democratic proposal that would have boosted health care funds also failed.
It all leaves Congress and the White House with no easy way out of the standoff that threatens a shutdown in less than two weeks when the current budget year and funding expires. Trump’s first term in office saw a monthlong shutdown, the longest in federal history, in 2018-2019.
Trump predicted Friday that there could be “a closed country for a period of time.” He said the government will continue to “take care” of the military and Social Security payments in a closure.
Republicans have insisted they are not to blame for any possible shutdown, turning it back on Democrats.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., have put forward the short-term measure, which is a typical way that Congress resolves such logjams. That would keep government operations running at current levels as talks get underway.
While the House was able to narrowly pass the temporary funding measure on a mostly party-line vote, in the Senate the process can require a higher 60-vote threshold that means support is needed from Republicans and Democrats.
Democrats are working to protect health care programs. The Democratic proposal would extend enhanced health insurance subsidies set to expire at the end of the year, plus reverse Medicaid cuts that were included in Republicans’ big tax break and spending cut bill enacted earlier this year.
Republicans have said the Democrats’ demands to reverse the Medicaid changes are a nonstarter, but they have also said there is time to address the health insurance subsidy issue in the months ahead.
Sept. 19, 2025:
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate rejected competing measures on Friday to fund federal agencies for a few weeks when the new budget year begins on Oct. 1, 2025, increasing prospects for a partial government shutdown on that date.
Leaders of the two parties sought to blame the other side for the standoff. Democrats accused Republicans of not negotiating with them to address some of their priorities on health care as part of the funding measure, even though they knew some Democratic votes would be needed to get a bill to the president’s desk.
Republicans said Democrats were making demands that would dramatically increase spending and were not germane to the core issue of keeping agencies fully running for a short period of time while negotiations continued on a full-year spending measure.
“The Republican bill is a clean, nonpartisan, short-term continuing resolution to fund the government to give us time to do the full appropriations process. And the Democrat bill is the exact opposite,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said shortly before the votes. “It’s what you might call, not a clean CR, a dirty CR – laden down with partisan policies and appeals to Democrats’ leftist base.”
The Democratic proposal would extend enhanced health insurance subsidies set to expire at the end of the year, plus reverse Medicaid cuts that were included in Republicans’ big tax breaks and spending cuts bill enacted earlier this year.
“The American people will look at what Republicans are doing, look at what Democrats are doing, and it will be clear that public sentiment will be on our side,” said Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, who has repeatedly threatened a shutdown if health care isn’t addressed.
The Senate action came after the House earlier in the day passed the Republican-led funding bill. The measure would extend government funding generally at current levels for seven weeks. The bill would also add about $88 million in security funding for lawmakers and members of the Supreme Court and executive branch in the wake of the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
The vote was 217-212. Rep. Jared Golden of Maine was the lone Democratic member to support the bill.
House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana said he knew he had few votes to spare as he sought to persuade fellow Republicans to vote for the funding patch, something many in his conference have routinely opposed in past budget fights. But this time, GOP members see a chance to portray the Democrats as responsible for a shutdown.
“The ball is in Chuck Schumer’s court. I hope he does the right thing. I hope he does not choose to shut the government down and inflict pain on the American people,” Johnson said.
President Donald Trump had urged House Republicans to pass the bill and put the burden on Democrats to oppose it. GOP leaders often need Trump’s help to win over holdouts on legislation.
“Every House Republican should UNIFY, and VOTE YES!” Trump said on his social media site.
Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said that in opposing the continuing resolution, Democrats were working to protect the health care of the American people. He said that with Republicans controlling the White House and both branches of Congress, “Republicans will own a government shutdown. Period. Full stop.”
The Senate moved quickly after the House vote to take up the measure plus the Democratic counter. Both fell short of the 60 votes needed for passage. Now, it’s unclear how things will shake out.
Senators could then potentially leave town until Sept. 29 — one day before the shutdown deadline. The Senate has a scheduled recess next week because of Rosh Hashana, the Jewish new year. Meanwhile, Johnson said Republicans were discussing whether to stay back in their home districts through the rest of September, essentially forcing the Senate to approve the House-passed measure or risk a shutdown. He said lawmakers have a lot of work to do in their districts.
Democrats on both sides of the Capitol are watching Schumer closely after his last-minute decision in March to vote with Republicans to keep the government open. Schumer argued then that a shutdown would be damaging and would give Trump and his White House freedom to make more government cuts. Many on the left revolted, with some advocates calling for his resignation.
The vote in the spring also caused a temporary schism with Jeffries, who opposed that particular GOP spending bill and said he would not be “complicit” with Schumer’s vote.
The two Democratic leaders now say they are united, and Schumer says things have changed since March. The public is more wary of Trump and Republicans, Schumer says, after the passage of Medicaid cuts.
Most Democrats appear to be backing Schumer’s demand that there be negotiations on the bill — and support his threats of a shutdown, even as it is unclear how they would get out of it.
“Look, the president said really boldly, don’t even talk to Democrats. Unless he’s forgotten that you need a supermajority to pass a budget in the Senate, that’s obviously his signal he wants a shutdown,” said Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis.
While the Democratic measure to fund the government had no chance of passage, it does give Democrats a way to show voters their focus on cutting health care costs. Unless Congress act, tax credits going to low- and middle-income people who purchase health insurance through the Affordable Care Act will expire. That will mean a big increase in premiums for millions of Americans.
“There are some thing we have to address. The health insurance, ACA, is going to hammer millions of people in the country, including in red states,” said Sen. Angus King, I-Maine. “To me, that can’t be put off.”
Republicans have said the tax credit issue can be dealt with later this year. They’re also using Schumer’s previous arguments against shutdowns to make the case he’s playing politics.
“Democrats voted in favor of clean CRs no fewer than 13 times during the Biden administration,” Thune said. “Yet now that Republicans are offering a clean CR, it’s somehow a no-go. It’s funny how that happens.”
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Sept. 18, 2025:
It’s again a game of “chicken” as Senate leaders blame each other for a possible Oct. 1, 2025, government shutdown.
It’s something South Dakota Senator and Senate Majority Leader John Thune says the Democratic leaders have opposed in the past.
“Well apparently, VA offices and nutrition programs and disaster aid for farmers can be sacrificed when Democrats want to make a political point.”
Senate Minority Leader and New York Senator Chuck Schumer claims Republicans can’t pass temporary government funding or a continuing resolution unless they compromise on restoring Medicaid and Obamacare cuts.
“Now to pass a CR in the Senate, as everyone knows, requires votes from both sides. If one side refuses to negotiate, they are the ones causing the shutdown.”
Thune says he expects some Democrats to break away from Schumer and vote with the Republicans.
“But I would hope there would be Democrat senators who would give us the requisite number of votes to get to 60 in order to keep the government open.”
Schumer is under pressure from many in his party to take a tougher stand against President Trump and Republicans.
“The cost of people’s health care’s gone way up. Rural hospitals are already closing because of this Big Beautiful Bill. Job reports continue to show warning signs. Trump’s tariffs are a mess. And the economy’s headed in the wrong direction.”
Thune argues Democrats have backed a bare-bones or ‘clean’ CR in the past and should support one this week that would last into mid-November, allowing more time to finish spending bills. He says shutting the government down is not the answer– it would jeopardize billions in pending farm disaster and emergency aid and slow progress on U.S. Department of Agriculture, Veterans Affairs and other spending bills.
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