The US government shutdown is in a "death deadlock", with both parties blaming each other and no one making concessions
2025-10-28 10:44:47
The US government shutdown entered its 27th day, becoming the second-longest in US history. The longest shutdown occurred during President Trump's first term, lasting 35 days from December 2018 to January 2019.
The Senate returned from recess on Monday, but the government reopened with no progress after rejecting 12 Republican stopgap funding proposals.
U.S. Republican Representative Ana Paulina Luna said the government shutdown could last until the end of November. "I've heard that we might not be able to get back to normal operations until Thanksgiving or even later," Luna said in an interview with Fox News. This year's Thanksgiving in the United States falls on November 27.
When asked if there had been any progress that would bring Congress closer to reopening the government, the resounding consensus was no.
"No, not at all, I think we're deadlocked. I think we're going to go into November. It's terrible," said Sen. Cynthia Loomis, R-Wyoming.
"I can't tell you how wrong this is," said Sen. Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican. "I think it's not right that people should suffer because of this, and people are suffering because of this, and I mean, I know in this building, it's like, oh, this is just a political game. This is not a game."
Despite the lack of momentum to end the government shutdown, Loomis doesn't believe President Trump needs to intervene further to break the impasse.
"I think this is an issue that Congress needs to resolve internally," Lummis said. "We know what they're asking for. They're asking for $1.5 trillion to put a Band-Aid on Obamacare, which fundamentally failed to provide affordable care. So there's a lot of work to do."
Democrats faced their first major rift in their coalition on Monday over the government shutdown, with federal employee unions demanding they yield after a four-week stalemate.
Team leaders did not immediately offer concessions, but the union's demands put many Democratic lawmakers on the defensive. The second-ranking senator said this would be an issue for internal discussions this week as bipartisan negotiations have nearly stalled.
"This is a huge deal, and they've been our friends," Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) told reporters on Monday, adding that "Democrats take this very seriously."
The American Federation of Federal Employees (AFGE) is urging Congress to immediately pass a "pure" stopgap funding bill proposed by Republicans, a demand that is adding to a number of pressure factors weighing on lawmakers.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer met with members of his leadership, including Durbin, on Monday evening, and all Senate Democrats will hold a closed-door lunch on Tuesday (October 28) (early Wednesday morning Beijing time).
Schumer did not directly address the union's new stance in his speech to Congress on Monday. A spokesperson for Schumer did not respond to a request for comment regarding the union's statement from its national president, Everett Kelly, who said it was "time to pass a clean continuing resolution to end this shutdown today."
Schumer pointed out that the government shutdown would trigger a chain reaction and blamed Trump and Republicans for ending the shutdown, saying that the president was traveling abroad for the second time in a month to avoid domestic problems .
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said: "The president should stop wasting his energy on diplomatic adventures, banquets and a bailout for Argentina and start engaging in substantive negotiations with Democrats."
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters in Chicago that Democrats would not concede.
"We want a bipartisan agreement to get the government back open immediately," he said. "We will continue to support our hard-working federal employees, as we have over the past few weeks."
Senate Republican leaders will make a final decision after hearing opinions from various factions of the party at a closed-door lunch on Tuesday. However, given the signs of division within the Democratic Party, Republicans are cautious about easing pressure and are unlikely to allow a vote on the so-called "precision strike" bill .
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Japan on Monday, President Trump blamed Democrats for the ongoing government shutdown and the resulting shortage of air traffic controllers.
Asked if the government had a way to pay these key employees (air traffic controllers have yet to be paid), the president replied, "Yes, there is a way," but did not specify how the controllers would be paid.
Trump has instead blamed Democrats for the shutdown and called on them to vote for a purely continuing resolution to fund the government.
"The Democrats can fix this with ATC, they just have to say open the country. We just need five votes. The Republicans are with us. We just need five votes. So let's see what happens," he said.
Trump added: "I think it will not only take care of the controller's problem, but everybody else will be taken care of as well."
The president of the nation's largest federal employee union called on lawmakers on Monday to pass a short-term spending bill to end the government shutdown.
"It's time to pass a clean continuing resolution to end this shutdown today," Everett Kelly, national president of the American Federation of Federal Employees, said in a statement. "No halfhearted measures and no gerrymandering. Put every federal employee back to work today with full back pay."
The American Federation of Federal Employees represents more than 800,000 federal and D.C. government workers.
"It's time for our leaders to start focusing on how to fix this for the American people, rather than dwelling on who will be held responsible for a shutdown that the American people hate," Kelly said.
Senate Republicans failed to pass a purely short-term plan, while Democrats stuck to their health care priorities, particularly extending subsidies under the Affordable Care Act.
According to notices on government websites and public statements from state governors, 47 states are warning millions of low-income people that they will lose federal food assistance in November if the government shutdown continues.
Virginia had previously warned of potential disruptions to benefits, but Republican Governor Glenn Younkin declared a state of emergency last week, saying he would use the state's surplus funds to provide relief to the 850,000 Virginians who rely on the program. Officials in Nebraska and Indiana have not issued public statements, and no related notices have been found on government websites.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture warned that states will not be reimbursed if they pay for these benefits during the government shutdown.
World Central Kitchen, a humanitarian organization founded by chef José Andrés, distributed food to federal workers affected by the ongoing government shutdown, who were not paid their full wages for the first time last Friday.
"Our team is distributing thousands of free meals made by local restaurants to people affected by the government shutdown," the group tweeted.
The continued government shutdown and political deadlock put significant bearish pressure on the US dollar.
As the world's primary reserve currency, the value of the US dollar relies heavily on confidence in the US's political stability and governance capabilities. Continued political dysfunction and uncertainty could erode this confidence, prompting international investors to reduce their holdings of US dollar assets and putting pressure on the US dollar exchange rate.
The government shutdown is no longer just a political drama; it's starting to cause substantial damage to the real economy. Weakened consumption and disruptions to key services will drag down economic growth. Weak economic fundamentals are one of the root causes of currency depreciation.
The government shutdown is evolving from a political spectacle into an economic crisis, shaking several pillars of the dollar's value: political stability, economic prospects, and fiscal credibility. Unless there is decisive progress to break the deadlock, the dollar will struggle to escape its weakness.
The US dollar index continued its decline from the previous trading day on Tuesday, falling by about 0.12%.
At 10:39 Beijing time, the US dollar index was at 98.69.
The Senate returned from recess on Monday, but the government reopened with no progress after rejecting 12 Republican stopgap funding proposals.
U.S. Republican Representative Ana Paulina Luna said the government shutdown could last until the end of November. "I've heard that we might not be able to get back to normal operations until Thanksgiving or even later," Luna said in an interview with Fox News. This year's Thanksgiving in the United States falls on November 27.
Senators lament lack of momentum on Capitol Hill to end government shutdown
When asked if there had been any progress that would bring Congress closer to reopening the government, the resounding consensus was no.
"No, not at all, I think we're deadlocked. I think we're going to go into November. It's terrible," said Sen. Cynthia Loomis, R-Wyoming.
"I can't tell you how wrong this is," said Sen. Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican. "I think it's not right that people should suffer because of this, and people are suffering because of this, and I mean, I know in this building, it's like, oh, this is just a political game. This is not a game."
Despite the lack of momentum to end the government shutdown, Loomis doesn't believe President Trump needs to intervene further to break the impasse.
"I think this is an issue that Congress needs to resolve internally," Lummis said. "We know what they're asking for. They're asking for $1.5 trillion to put a Band-Aid on Obamacare, which fundamentally failed to provide affordable care. So there's a lot of work to do."
Democrats face severe test as government shutdown coalition shows cracks
Democrats faced their first major rift in their coalition on Monday over the government shutdown, with federal employee unions demanding they yield after a four-week stalemate.
Team leaders did not immediately offer concessions, but the union's demands put many Democratic lawmakers on the defensive. The second-ranking senator said this would be an issue for internal discussions this week as bipartisan negotiations have nearly stalled.
"This is a huge deal, and they've been our friends," Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) told reporters on Monday, adding that "Democrats take this very seriously."
The American Federation of Federal Employees (AFGE) is urging Congress to immediately pass a "pure" stopgap funding bill proposed by Republicans, a demand that is adding to a number of pressure factors weighing on lawmakers.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer met with members of his leadership, including Durbin, on Monday evening, and all Senate Democrats will hold a closed-door lunch on Tuesday (October 28) (early Wednesday morning Beijing time).
Schumer did not directly address the union's new stance in his speech to Congress on Monday. A spokesperson for Schumer did not respond to a request for comment regarding the union's statement from its national president, Everett Kelly, who said it was "time to pass a clean continuing resolution to end this shutdown today."
Schumer pointed out that the government shutdown would trigger a chain reaction and blamed Trump and Republicans for ending the shutdown, saying that the president was traveling abroad for the second time in a month to avoid domestic problems .
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said: "The president should stop wasting his energy on diplomatic adventures, banquets and a bailout for Argentina and start engaging in substantive negotiations with Democrats."
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters in Chicago that Democrats would not concede.
"We want a bipartisan agreement to get the government back open immediately," he said. "We will continue to support our hard-working federal employees, as we have over the past few weeks."
Senate Republican leaders will make a final decision after hearing opinions from various factions of the party at a closed-door lunch on Tuesday. However, given the signs of division within the Democratic Party, Republicans are cautious about easing pressure and are unlikely to allow a vote on the so-called "precision strike" bill .
Trump blames Democrats for government shutdown, air traffic controller shortage
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Japan on Monday, President Trump blamed Democrats for the ongoing government shutdown and the resulting shortage of air traffic controllers.
Asked if the government had a way to pay these key employees (air traffic controllers have yet to be paid), the president replied, "Yes, there is a way," but did not specify how the controllers would be paid.
Trump has instead blamed Democrats for the shutdown and called on them to vote for a purely continuing resolution to fund the government.
"The Democrats can fix this with ATC, they just have to say open the country. We just need five votes. The Republicans are with us. We just need five votes. So let's see what happens," he said.
Trump added: "I think it will not only take care of the controller's problem, but everybody else will be taken care of as well."
Unions representing federal employees are calling on lawmakers to pass a short-term spending bill.
The president of the nation's largest federal employee union called on lawmakers on Monday to pass a short-term spending bill to end the government shutdown.
"It's time to pass a clean continuing resolution to end this shutdown today," Everett Kelly, national president of the American Federation of Federal Employees, said in a statement. "No halfhearted measures and no gerrymandering. Put every federal employee back to work today with full back pay."
The American Federation of Federal Employees represents more than 800,000 federal and D.C. government workers.
"It's time for our leaders to start focusing on how to fix this for the American people, rather than dwelling on who will be held responsible for a shutdown that the American people hate," Kelly said.
Senate Republicans failed to pass a purely short-term plan, while Democrats stuck to their health care priorities, particularly extending subsidies under the Affordable Care Act.
47 states issue SNAP benefit warnings
According to notices on government websites and public statements from state governors, 47 states are warning millions of low-income people that they will lose federal food assistance in November if the government shutdown continues.
Virginia had previously warned of potential disruptions to benefits, but Republican Governor Glenn Younkin declared a state of emergency last week, saying he would use the state's surplus funds to provide relief to the 850,000 Virginians who rely on the program. Officials in Nebraska and Indiana have not issued public statements, and no related notices have been found on government websites.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture warned that states will not be reimbursed if they pay for these benefits during the government shutdown.
World Central Kitchen distributes meals to federal workers in Washington
World Central Kitchen, a humanitarian organization founded by chef José Andrés, distributed food to federal workers affected by the ongoing government shutdown, who were not paid their full wages for the first time last Friday.
"Our team is distributing thousands of free meals made by local restaurants to people affected by the government shutdown," the group tweeted.
This puts significant bearish pressure on the US dollar
The continued government shutdown and political deadlock put significant bearish pressure on the US dollar.
As the world's primary reserve currency, the value of the US dollar relies heavily on confidence in the US's political stability and governance capabilities. Continued political dysfunction and uncertainty could erode this confidence, prompting international investors to reduce their holdings of US dollar assets and putting pressure on the US dollar exchange rate.
The government shutdown is no longer just a political drama; it's starting to cause substantial damage to the real economy. Weakened consumption and disruptions to key services will drag down economic growth. Weak economic fundamentals are one of the root causes of currency depreciation.
The government shutdown is evolving from a political spectacle into an economic crisis, shaking several pillars of the dollar's value: political stability, economic prospects, and fiscal credibility. Unless there is decisive progress to break the deadlock, the dollar will struggle to escape its weakness.
The US dollar index continued its decline from the previous trading day on Tuesday, falling by about 0.12%.
At 10:39 Beijing time, the US dollar index was at 98.69.
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