Government shutdown enters eighth day as Senate remains deadlocked

Senate Democrats on Wednesday blocked Republicans’ attempt to reopen the government for a sixth time as pressure and threats from the White House increased.

It’s been “Groundhog Day” in the Senate for eight days – but unlike Bill Murray’s 1993 comedy, there has been little, if any, progress among the cast of senators. The talks are still ongoing, but they have not yet taken the step toward full-fledged negotiations aimed at ending the government paralysis.

The day before Wednesday morning’s vote, a bipartisan group of lawmakers met to discuss the shutdown and a way out of Washington’s Thai food crisis.

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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York, during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, October 3, 2025. (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Sen. Markwayne Mullin, Republican of Oklahoma, said the group’s goal is to find a way to reopen the government and keep it open, rather than repeating the same cycle when funding runs out again on Nov. 21.

“We are not working on a solution to reopen the government. We are not negotiating. We have a clear CR that they must accept,” Mullin said. “Our goal is how to avoid, if we reopen it, how to avoid closure.”

Congressional Republicans are adamant that the best path forward is to pass their continuing resolution (CR), which would keep the government open until November 21, add millions to bolster member security and include a solution to the Washington, D.C. budget that was neglected by the House earlier this year.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., intends to continue introducing the same bill and hopes fractures will form within the Democratic Caucus’ unified front. So far, however, only three members of the Senate Democratic caucus have split from the larger group: Sens. John Fetterman, D-Pa., Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., and Angus King, I-Maine.

But Democrats, led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., have fought to reopen government on health care, including through the blunt instrument of expiring tax credits under Obamacare, formally known as the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

“Nothing has changed,” Thune said. “We all understand, you know what they want to do, and we’re not opposed, as I’ve said many times, to having that conversation. At some point, they have to take ‘yes’ for an answer.”

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The government remained closed on Wednesday, October 8, 2025 as Senate Democrats continued to demand a deal from President Donald Trump to extend expiring ObamaCare subsidies. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Even though the credits don’t expire until the end of the year, Democrats say that starting open enrollment on Nov. 1, Americans who rely on the subsidies will see a sharp increase in the cost of their premiums unless Congress acts.

“We think the pressure that the American people are putting on the Republicans, who are already seeing signs of fissures, is going to get them to come to the table, and we can negotiate a good deal for the American people,” Schumer said.

But their demand is not entirely one-dimensional either. Their counterproposal to the GOP CR lays out in more specific terms that they want a permanent extension of the Obamacare subsidies, safeguards placed on President Donald Trump’s ability to recoup funding through the rescission and foreclosure process, as well as a complete repeal of the health care title of the “big, beautiful bill” and the return of canceled funding for NPR and PBS.

“Look, this is a unique moment, a unique moment where we can demand that we only vote for a budget that helps our people and ends lawlessness,” said Sen. Chris Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut. “I want the ACA subsidies restored, but I would also be crazy to vote for a budget that would allow Trump to continue getting away with this level of corruption and simply allow him to cancel spending in the bill for states like Connecticut.”

SCHUMER SHUTDOWN HOLDS AS SENA DEMS BLOCK GOP BID TO REOPEN GOVERNMENT

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., is interviewed by Bret Baier of FOX News Channel outside the West Wing of the White House September 29, 2025, in Washington. (Alex Brandon/AP Photo)

In the background are threats emanating from the administration led by Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russ Vought. He has already withheld nearly $30 billion in infrastructure funding for cities and blue states and, through two memos, ordered layoffs at agencies and suggested that furloughed workers could not receive back pay.

The latest move goes against a law signed by President Donald Trump guaranteeing back pay to workers put out of work after the 2019 shutdown, the longest in U.S. history.

While layoffs were thought to be imminent, Trump appeared to give some respite on the issue Tuesday.

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“I’ll be able to tell you in four or five days,” Trump told reporters. “If this continues, it will be substantial, and a lot of these jobs will never come back, but you will get much closer to a balanced budget.”

Yet Senate Democrats have remained unfazed by the threats, especially the latest that workers would be left without back pay.

“I’m not sure Trump is implying that,” said Sen. Tim Kaine, Democrat of Virginia. “He has underlings who were underwatering one of Donald Trump’s accomplishments. It was Donald Trump who made that guarantee when he signed the bill in January 2019, and now he has OMB officials suggesting they might go back on what he promised. I hope he’s proud of his work.”