Reporter’s Notebook: Government shutdown continues as Senate prepares for 6th test vote
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The government shutdown will not end today. However, the Senate will vote for the sixth time on a series of test votes to break a filibuster on competing Democratic and Republican plans.
They need 60 votes.
Votes took place late in the morning or at midday.
There are moderate, informal bipartisan discussions about ending the shutdown among senators, but Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., says they are at an impasse.
Ominous red and orange skies brought notice to Capitol Hill as shutdown loomed
A view of the US Capitol in Washington, November 4, 2024. (Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Lawmakers on both sides are now concerned about the possibility that unemployed workers won’t receive back pay. President Donald Trump floated the idea yesterday. However, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., seemed to believe workers would receive back pay.
Johnson has been open to passing a special bill to pay military personnel and air traffic controllers. But that would require the House to return to session. Johnson has pledged to keep the House out of the way until Senate Democrats agree to the GOP funding plan. A senior House GOP source doubted Johnson would bring the House back before the shutdown ends.
The deadline for paying military personnel and air traffic controllers is October 13.
SENA REPUBLICS CONFIRM MORE THAN 100 TRUMP NOMINEES AS GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN CONTINUES
President Mike Johnson speaks to the media during a news conference, as Senate Majority Leader John Thune listens, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, October 1, 2025. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)
Meanwhile, lawmakers on both sides are growing increasingly concerned about airline absences and the impact it could have on safety. Remember, aviation issues are what ended the government shutdown in 2018-2019.
There are also concerns about farm payments, which affect tens of millions of acres in the United States. The shutdown has exacerbated this situation because Congress is two years late in approving a farm bill.
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Additionally, some Republicans are increasingly willing to respond to Democratic pressure for ObamaCare subsidies. This is the main obstacle for the Democrats.
Republicans have spent the last 16 years fighting ObamaCare. Today, the unthinkable is happening: some Republicans are calling for increased subsidies under ObamaCare.
