The US government shutdown shows no signs of ending as Senate Republicans on Friday rejected Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s new proposal to reopen federal agencies.The shutdown, which began on October 1, has now stretched to 38 days, making it the longest in US history.
Schumer’s proposal sought to keep the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) enhanced subsidies in place for one year in exchange for Democrats agreeing to drop their push for a longer, multi-year extension of the same tax credits. In return, Democrats will pass a short-term resolution on “clean” funding for Republicans to temporarily reopen the government, NPR reports.Republicans quickly rejected the proposal, pointing out that the two parties remain deeply divided over health care funding and government spending. GOP lawmakers argued that Democrats were trying to lock in policy reforms with the stalled bill, while Democrats accused Republicans of refusing to negotiate in good faith.With no compromise in sight, hundreds of thousands of federal workers remain furloughed or without pay, and government programs across sectors continue to feel the strain. The standoff has heightened political tensions in Washington, with both sides facing increasing pressure from their constituents to find a solution.“I find Sen. Schumer’s demands ridiculous and tantamount to political hostage-taking to continue bad policies,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, said in a post on X. “We shouldn’t continue to flood health insurance companies with taxpayer dollars under Obamacare as the price for reopening the government,” Graham said. “My no vote would be an unequivocal rejection of Senator Schumer’s very bad idea.”Schumer’s plan calls for Republicans to agree to a separate one-year extension of the ACA credits and create a bipartisan committee to continue negotiations on health care affordability. Insurers will update their rates as soon as Congress passes a simple extension of the tax breaks.Millions of Americans who purchase Obamacare health insurance plans face significantly higher premiums for coverage in 2026 because those plans do not include the discount provided by the ACA’s expanded tax credits. More than 20 million Americans benefit from increased subsidies that will expire at the end of December unless Congress extends them.Even before the shutdown began, Senate Democrats insisted that any funding resolution extend ACA subsidies, preventing the Republican-backed House appropriations-free funding bill from securing the 60 votes needed to pass the Senate. Republicans say the issue of saving the credits should be resolved only after a clean funding bill is passed.The Republican Party has 53 seats in the Senate. 45 Democratic senators and two independent deputies participate with them.“Democrats have said we have to solve the health care crisis, but Republicans have said repeatedly that they will not negotiate to lower health care costs until the government reopens,” Schumer said on the Senate floor Friday afternoon. “So let’s find a way to honor both positions. So we’d like to propose a simple proposal that would reopen the government while extending the ACA’s premium tax credits... and then be able to begin negotiating long-term solutions to health care costs. This proposal reopens the government and ensures that working families who are shopping for health care right now have confidence and financial help while open enrollment begins.”Sen. John Thune, R-South Dakota, told reporters: “They know their last proposal was frivolous and unrealistic … so I guess you can call it progress. But I just don’t think it comes close to what we need to do here.”A person familiar with the Republican position told CNBC, “Democrats proposed this privately a few weeks ago [were] rejected. The trick today is for Democrats to admit that it’s time to end the shutdown they started.”A White House official told CNBC: “Democrats are making it clear that they are holding the American people hostage for other spending. This is a huge descent from their original position and shows that they are under a lot of internal pressure.” The official said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, DNY, “has indicated that he would never accept something like this, so this is a sharp break with House Democrats. Ultimately, Democrats have to reopen the government today, and the administration will meet with them about the tax credit and work with them on it.»In a statement, Jeffries said, “Leader Schumer’s initiative is a very smart, good-faith proposal that gets the government back up and running and addresses an important part of the Republican health care crisis. House Democrats will soon convene in a caucus where we will have an opportunity to further discuss how to stop the GOP shutdown. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and House Republicans must back to work and back from their seat on an outrageous six-week taxpayer-funded holiday. That’s enough.”Multiple polls have shown that more Americans blame Donald Trump and Republicans than Democrats for the shutdown. Three days before Schumer made his new proposal, Democratic candidates won key races in New York, New Jersey and Virginia. US President Donald Trump admitted on Wednesday that the electoral acrimony was bad for Republicans. Trump said the shutdown was seen as a “huge negative factor for Republicans.”»
