The Senate has left town for the weekend with no measurable progress toward a deal to reopen the government, with impatience inside the Capitol skyrocketing with millions at risk of losing critical food aid the shutdown.
Senators will not return until Monday, which will mark day 34 of the shutdown — one day shy of the longest-ever shutdown.
Key senators of both parties took part in some private meetings on Thursday to discuss potential off-ramps to the 30-day shutdown, including how to get both parties to support a deal on long-term appropriations bills. But lawmakers involved in those talks offered no more clarity about whether it could indeed end the standoff.
Frustration is mounting on both sides about the lack of solution, particularly as millions of Americans who rely on federal food aid are on the verge of seeing their benefits dry up, as well as other major effects on programs like Head Start educational centers.
Republican Sen. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming told reporters it would be a “waste of time” if lawmakers stayed in Washington over the weekend to try to work out a deal to reopen the government, blaming Democrats for the impasse.
“We’ve been here every week, even we’ve worked weeks when we were supposed to not be here. We have bent over backwards, voted 13 times to try to open the government with current funding,” Lummis told reporters on Capitol Hill.
CNN’s Camila DeChalus and Morgan Rimmer contributed to this post.