US government shutdown ties record for longest in history

The US government shutdown entered its 35th day on Tuesday, a record set during President Donald Trump’s first term, as lawmakers expressed optimism about behind-the-scenes progress to end the dispute.

The federal shutdown looks almost certain to become the longest in history, with no major breakthroughs expected before it enters its sixth week at midnight — though there have been fragile signs in Congress that the ramp-up is closer than ever.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune set the tone Monday when he told reporters he felt “optimistic” that talks between the warring Republicans and Democrats could lead to an agreement before next week.

The government has been shut down since Congress failed to approve funding on Sept. 30, and the pain is intensifying as programs — including food aid that millions of Americans rely on — are at a standstill.

“I’ll be honest with you, I don’t think any of us expected it to take this long. We didn’t believe, we couldn’t imagine,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said at a news conference held to mark the six-week mark.

“It’s now tied for the largest shutdown in U.S. history. And we didn’t think we should come here every day — day after day — and repeat the obvious facts to the American people and expose every day what’s going on here.”

About 1.4 million federal workers — from air traffic controllers to security guards — have been placed on furloughs without pay or forced to work for nothing, while vital welfare programs and even pay for active-duty troops are threatened.

Some lawmakers — including Thune and Johnson — hope a series of elections in New York, Virginia, New Jersey and California on Tuesday will provide the momentum needed to reopen the government.

But both sides remain mired in the main point of contention — health care spending.

Democrats say they will provide votes to end the funding only after a deal is reached to extend expiring insurance subsidies that make health care affordable for millions of Americans.

But Republicans insist they will tackle health care only when Democrats vote to turn the lights back on in Washington.

While the leadership of both parties has shown little appetite for compromise, there have been signs of life on the backbenches, with a handful of moderate Democrats working to find an escape hatch.

A separate bipartisan group of four centrist members of the House on Monday presented a compromise framework to lower health insurance costs.

Democrats believe millions of Americans seeing their premiums skyrocket as they sign up for health insurance next year will pressure Republicans to find a compromise.

But Trump remained steadfast in his refusal to negotiate, telling CBS News in an interview that aired Sunday that he was “not going to be blackmailed.”

The president tried to apply his own pressure to force Democrats to back down, threatening mass layoffs of federal workers and using the shutdown to target progressive priorities.

Last week his administration threatened to end a vital aid program that helps 42 million Americans pay for groceries for the first time in its 60-year history, before the move was blocked by two courts.

But Trump insisted on Tuesday — apparently in defiance of court orders — that food aid would only be disbursed after the government shutdown ends.

Trump announced on his Truth Social platform that SNAP benefits “will only be provided when the Radical Leftist Democrats open the government, which they can easily do, and not before!”

Trump also revived his call to eliminate the Senate floor — the 60-vote threshold for passing most legislation — so Republicans can pass government funding without help from Democrats.