The US government shutdown breaks all-time record with no sign of agreement between Democrats and Republicans

As fate would have it, the current U.S. government shutdown shattered its historical record this Tuesday at around 9:00 p.m. (Eastern Time), when the polling stations closed in New York City, which had just elected its first socialist and Muslim mayor, Zohran Mamdani.

The election of Mamdani, like the ongoing struggle with Donald Trump over public funding, stems from the Democratic Party’s attempt to present itself to voters as more than just a party defeated by Donald Trump in the last presidential election. This Wednesday marks the one-year anniversary of that victory.

The previous record belonged to the last shutdown. It lasted 35 days, beginning on December 22, 2018, due to a dispute over funding for the wall Trump wanted to build on the border with Mexico, and it was resolved around 9:00 p.m. on January 25, 2019. So it was the same president but, unlike this time, that Congress was in recess while it was being renewed to reflect the election results of the 2018 midterm elections, in which the Democrats regained control of the House of Representatives, two years after Trump’s surprise victory over Hillary Clinton.

This time, the Senate has remained active. The House, however, has not, as its leader, Republican Speaker Mike Johnson, adjourned it before the October 1st shutdown for political reasons. The Senate has voted 14 times to see if enough Democrats would switch sides to reach the supermajority of 60 seats Republicans needed to reopen the government. The latest vote took place this Tuesday and produced a result similar to the previous 13 times.

It makes sense: the disagreements remain the same as at the beginning. Democrats don’t trust their opponents and won’t support their plans until they have assurances that certain Obamacare subsidies — the health assistance plan for those who can’t afford the kind of coverage provided by private insurance — won’t disappear with the new year. They also demand assurances against the cuts to Medicaid, a kind of social security for low-income Americans, which Republicans managed to pass this summer as part of Trump’s mega tax reform, the Big Beautiful Bill.

Republicans accuse their rivals of wanting to offer free healthcare to undocumented migrants, despite the fact that the law prohibits it, as well as of wanting taxpayer money to be used for “gender mutilation procedures,” another fallacy.

Negotiations underway

According to U.S. media reports, negotiations to end the shutdown have focused in recent days on agreeing to a funding package that would allow Democrats to vote independently on extending Obamacare subsidies. The agreement would also include a pact to fund key federal government agencies until September of next year.

Meanwhile, the consequences of the government shutdown have worsened with each passing day. Some 750,000 federal employees are furloughed without pay. Those performing jobs deemed “essential” must continue fulfilling their obligations, but without pay, and the Trump Administration has hinted that what was traditionally guaranteed — that all employees will receive their back pay when the flow of public funds resumes — is no longer so.

On Tuesday, the White House press secretary missed an opportunity to reassure those government employees, thousands of whom have been forced to rely on food banks to stock up on supplies. Karoline Leavitt stated at her press conference that their situation would depend on the agreement the administration reaches with the Democrats.

Last weekend, the situation at airports worsened considerably, with airfields experiencing average delays of up to five hours due to shortages of air traffic controllers and ground staff. However, the worst impact is being felt by the 42 million Americans who rely on food stamps through a program called SNAP.

After Trump, who has found the money to pay the military, said he didn’t intend to honor SNAP promises, two federal judges ordered the administration to do so last Friday. This Tuesday, the U.S. president, determined to inflict as much damage as possible on Democratic voters with the shutdown, announced that his administration will only pay half the money owed for those vouchers.

The U.S. president invited Republican senators to breakfast at the White House on Wednesday. All indications are that he will use the opportunity to pressure them to support the abolition of the filibuster, which requires major legislative decisions to be made in the Capitol by a 60-vote majority. Senate Majority Leader John Thune believes that pressing this “nuclear button” would be detrimental to them when Democrats regain control of the Senate, perhaps in next year’s elections. But things could change. Everything suggests that, unlike with the last shutdown, this time Trump is ready to do anything.

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