Key lawmaker threatens to overturn vote as White House pressures party to end shutdown

The Senate remains deadlocked on the path to ending the shutdown heading into its second week, and meager support from Republicans across the aisle for reopening the government could collapse.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., needs at least eight members of the Senate Democratic caucus to join Republicans in reopening the government, given that Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., has consistently voted against the GOP bill.

So far, a trio of Democratic caucus members, Sens. John Fetterman, D-Pa., Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., and Angus King, I-Maine, have crossed the aisle to reopen the government.

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

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)

This group has joined Republicans in almost each of the five attempts to reopen the government.

But as time passes and a deal remains elusive, at least one of them is considering changing his vote.

King said Monday, ahead of the government’s fifth reopening vote, that he planned to reverse his support for the GOP bill, and he argued that he needed “more clarity on addressing the issue” of the expiration of ObamaCare tax credits.

“I think this issue is urgent, and just saying, as the leader did on Friday, ‘well, we’ll discuss it,’ is not enough,” he said.

King’s possible defection comes as Republicans and Democrats engage in low-level conversations about the path forward from the shutdown. However, these impromptu dialogues have not yet transformed into real negotiations.

SCHUMER SHUTDOWN PATTERN EXPLAINED: DEMS DOUBLE HEAD ON OBAMACARE CREDITS AS DEADMAIL PROGRESS

Three senators who were all in a caucus with the Democratic Party stood up to their party by supporting a Republican-led appropriations package that Democrats refused to accept, leading to a shutdown of the federal government. (Getty Images)

And the impasse in the Upper House has only further solidified the positions of both sides.

Senate Democrats, led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., want a firm deal in place to extend the expiring ObamaCare subsidies. Senate Republicans have said they will negotiate a deal only after the government reopens and want reforms to the program they say are inflationary and further increase the cost of health care for Americans.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, has circulated an early plan that includes discussion of Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies that could be a way out of the shutdown, but so far it is in its preliminary stages.

“This suggests that there is a conversation about extending the ACA for premium tax credits after the government reopens,” she said. “But there will be a commitment to having that discussion.”

President Donald Trump indicated Monday that he would be open to a deal on the subsidies and said negotiations with Democrats were ongoing.

GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN LEADS INTO WEEKEND AS SENA DEMOCRATS BLOCK GOP PLAN

President Donald Trump walks aboard Air Force One before departing Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, September 21, 2025. (Mandel Ngan/AFP)

However, Schumer pushed back and called Trump’s claim “false.” The Senate’s top Democrat also shifted blame for the shutdown and lack of negotiations directly to House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.

“Obviously at this point he is the biggest obstacle,” Schumer said on the Senate floor. “So, to end this shutdown, Donald Trump will have to intervene and push President Johnson to negotiate.”

Meanwhile, the White House is putting more pressure on Senate Democrats to relent and reopen the government. A new memo reported by Axios suggested that furloughed federal employees may not have to receive back pay, which goes against a law signed by Trump in 2019 that guaranteed furloughed workers to receive back pay during future shutdowns.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

This follows a memo from the Office of Management and Budget last month that flagged mass layoffs beyond the usual furloughs for nonessential federal workers, and follows the withholding of nearly $30 billion in federal funds for cities and blue states.

Thune argued that “if you’re the executive branch of government, you have to deal with a shutdown.”

“At some point, you’re going to have to make decisions about who gets paid, who doesn’t get paid, which agencies and departments will take priority and which won’t,” Thune said. “I mean, I think it’s pretty standard practice when there’s a government shutdown. Now, I hope it doesn’t affect back pay…but again, it’s as simple as that: open the government.”