The federal government shut down on Wednesday after both Republicans and Democrats failed to pass a government funding bill before the midnight deadline.
The path to reopening the government remains unclear at this time. The Senate rejected a seven-week extension of funding by a vote of 55-45 on Tuesday evening, falling short of the 60 votes needed.
Congressional Democrats are refusing to give Republicans the votes they need to pass a short-term funding agreement, demanding overhauls to Medicaid cuts and extensions to health care tax credits, which Republicans, including President Donald Trump, have pushed back and said they will not.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) internally floated the idea of a 7-10 day stopgap funding measure but faced pressure from grassroots donors and the Democratic base.
“We want to sit down and negotiate, but the Republicans can’t do it in their partisan way, where they just say it’s our way or the highway,” Schumer said at a news conference.
The last shutdown began in December 2018, during Trump’s first term, and was the longest shutdown in history — 35 days.
As many as 4 million federal employees, including some service members, could go without a paycheck. Hundreds of thousands — including airport security officers, air traffic controllers and certain members of the military — will be deemed essential workers and told to come to work anyway.
