{"id":286170,"date":"2025-10-08T09:28:14","date_gmt":"2025-10-08T09:28:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/286170\/"},"modified":"2025-10-08T09:28:14","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T09:28:14","slug":"shutdown-grinds-into-a-second-week-but-quiet-talks-emerging","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/286170\/","title":{"rendered":"Shutdown grinds into a second week, but quiet talks emerging"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 Tours at the Capitol have come to a standstill. The House is keeping its doors closed, while the Senate is stuck in a loop of failed votes<\/a> on a rejected plan to reopen the government. President Donald Trump<\/a> is threatening to mass fire federal workers and refuse back pay<\/a> for the rest.<\/p>\n

As the government shutdown<\/a> enters a second week, there\u2019s no discernible endgame in sight.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to negotiate,\u201d Sen. Bernie Sanders, the independent from Vermont, argued late into the evening on the Senate floor. \u201cThat\u2019s the way it works.\u201d<\/p>\n

But no negotiations, at least publicly, are underway.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Senate<\/p>\n

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., speaks to reporters following the weekly Senate policy luncheon on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025. (AP Photo\/Allison Robbert)<\/p>\n

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., speaks to reporters following the weekly Senate policy luncheon on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025. (AP Photo\/Allison Robbert)<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

Shutdown grinds on, but signs of quiet talks<\/p>\n

The Republicans who have majority control in Congress believe they have the upper hand politically, as they fend off Democratic demands to quickly fund health insurance subsidies<\/a> as part of any plan to end the shutdown. <\/p>\n

But so have Democrats dug in, convinced that Americans are on their side in the fight to prevent the looming health care price spikes<\/a> and blaming Trump for the shutdown.<\/p>\n

Behind the scenes, though, signs of discomfort are apparent.<\/p>\n

A loosely formed collection of senators, Republicans and Democrats, have bantered about options for addressing the health insurance problem. One, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, has offered her own plans. <\/p>\n

Two prominent Republicans, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene<\/a> of Georgia and Sen. Josh Hawley<\/a> of Missouri, have said something must be done to stop the health insurance rate hikes. <\/p>\n

And Trump himself signaled he was open to negotiating with Democrats over their demands to save health care subsidies. Earlier this week, the president said that talks were already underway as he wants \u201cgreat health care\u201d for the people, only to shift his tone hours later to say the government must reopen first.<\/p>\n

Trump wants to make a health care deal<\/p>\n

\u201cI spoke to the president at length yesterday about that very thing,\u201d House Speaker Mike Johnson<\/a> said about his Monday conversation with Trump. \u201cAnd yes, he wants to solve problems.\u201d<\/p>\n

At its core, the debate is over the health care issue<\/a> that has tangled Congress for years, and in particular, the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, that Trump tried, and failed, to repeal and replace<\/a> during his first term at the White House.<\/p>\n

Congress increased the federal subsidies that help people purchase private insurance policies on the Affordable Care Act exchanges during the COVID-19 pandemic. The federal aid was popular, and it boosted ACA enrollment to a record 24 million people<\/a>. Those enhanced subsidies are set to expire at year\u2019s end.<\/p>\n

Republicans say Congress can deal with the health insurance issue in the months ahead. Democrats are fighting to resolve the problem now, as people are receiving notices of higher policy rates for the new year.<\/p>\n

Senate Majority Leader John Thune<\/a>, the Republican from South Dakota, has said there may be a path forward \u2014 once the government reopens.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were always planning to have those discussions,\u201d said Johnson, R-La. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"As<\/p>\n

As the government shutdown moves into the second week, Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Susan Collins, R-Maine, center, has suggested pushing ahead with a group of bipartisan spending bills that are pending and a then securing a commitment to discuss the health care issue as a way out of the impasse, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025. (AP Photo\/J. Scott Applewhite)<\/p>\n

As the government shutdown moves into the second week, Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Susan Collins, R-Maine, center, has suggested pushing ahead with a group of bipartisan spending bills that are pending and a then securing a commitment to discuss the health care issue as a way out of the impasse, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025. (AP Photo\/J. Scott Applewhite)<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

Doubts are high and trust is low<\/p>\n

But Democrats argue that Republicans failed to address the expiring health care subsidies this summer when they approved Trump\u2019s signature bill into law, commonly referred to as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.<\/a><\/p>\n

Democrats doubt that with Johnson keeping the House out of legislative session, and sending lawmakers home to work in their districts, the Republicans will quickly come back to work on resolving the health care problem.<\/p>\n

\u201cTens of millions of people are about to experience dramatically increased health insurance costs \u2014 how is that acceptable in the wealthiest country in the history of the world?\u201d said House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries<\/a> of New York.<\/p>\n

\u201cA health care crisis is unfolding before the eyes of the American people because of the actions taken by the GOP \u2014 they\u2019re on vacation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"House<\/p>\n

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks to reporters following the weekly Senate policy luncheon that he attended on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025. (AP Photo\/Allison Robbert)<\/p>\n

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks to reporters following the weekly Senate policy luncheon that he attended on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025. (AP Photo\/Allison Robbert)<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

Missed paychecks for workers, and more failed votes <\/p>\n

While federal employees have often missed paychecks during shutdowns, and the first pay period is coming in the next week, Trump is now threatening to do away with guaranteed back pay. It would be a stark departure from what is normal. The White House budget office, under Russ Vought, argues the law says back pay is not automatic, and Congress would need to approve it.<\/p>\n

At the same time, Thune\u2019s strategy of trying to peel off more Democratic senators to join Republicans to advance the House-passed bill that would fund the government without a health care fix has not worked. <\/p>\n

In fact, the parties are pulling further apart. Sen. Angus King, the independent from Maine who has voted several times with Republicans to fund the government, has said he may change his vote, joining most Democratic senators who are holding out for a better deal.<\/p>\n

The Senate is expected to try again Wednesday to advance the House GOP\u2019s bill, but it is expected to fail again.<\/p>\n

Each side has dug in, convinced they\u2019re on the right side of the shutdown fight, in part because that\u2019s what their internal data shows.<\/p>\n

Over the weekend, Senate Democrats were briefed on information suggesting their health care messaging was resonating with voters. The memo from Senate Majority PAC was circulated to House Democrats and campaigns nationwide on Tuesday, with a clear directive: hold the line.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would be a mistake to take the pressure off Republicans,\u201d the memo says.<\/p>\n

Republicans, meanwhile, are sticking to their own playbook. A memo from the House GOP\u2019s campaign arm urged candidates to focus on the shutdown\u2019s economic impact, including a district-level breakdown of who would be affected by a government shutdown.<\/p>\n

Each side has framed the shutdown fight as a precursor to the 2026 midterm elections.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Associated Press writers Kevin Freking and Stephen Groves contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 Tours at the Capitol have come to a standstill. The House is keeping its doors…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":286171,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[146871,10635,69,57,49089,8123,9166,8121,16539,2741,9701,8119,50,80,18464,17051,16537,89,121682,61,322,67,132,68,93],"class_list":{"0":"post-286170","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"category-us","9":"tag-angus-king","10":"tag-bernie-sanders","11":"tag-donald-trump","12":"tag-general-news","13":"tag-government-shutdown","14":"tag-hakeem-jeffries","15":"tag-health-care-industry","16":"tag-john-thune","17":"tag-josh-hawley","18":"tag-maine","19":"tag-marjorie-taylor-greene","20":"tag-mike-johnson","21":"tag-news","22":"tag-politics","23":"tag-russell-vought","24":"tag-subsidies","25":"tag-susan-collins","26":"tag-u-s-democratic-party","27":"tag-u-s-government-shutdown","28":"tag-u-s-news","29":"tag-u-s-republican-party","30":"tag-united-states","31":"tag-unitedstates","32":"tag-us","33":"tag-washington-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115337843324649668","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286170","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=286170"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286170\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/286171"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=286170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=286170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=286170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}