Federal government shutdown grinds into a second week, but quiet talks emerging

WASHINGTON (AP) — Tours at the Capitol have come to a standstill. The House is keeping its doors closed, while the Senate repeated its loop Wednesday of failed votes on competing bills to reopen the government. President Donald Trump is threatening to mass fire federal workers and refuse back pay for the rest.

As the government shutdown entered a second week, there’s no discernible endgame in sight.

“Congress, do your damn job,” said Randy Erwin, president of the National Federation of Federal Employees, with other top union leaders near the Capitol.

No negotiations, at least publicly, are underway, but behind the scenes quiet talks are emerging. Clusters of lawmakers, Republicans and Democrats, are meeting privately, searching for ways out of the impasse, which hinges on striking a deal for preserving health care subsidies. Signs of discomfort are apparent, as military troops are set to miss paychecks, flights are being delayed at airports nationwide and federal programs are disrupted.

Two prominent Republicans, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, have broken from their party, saying something must be done to help Americans pay for the coming health insurance rate hikes. At the same time, the GOP leadership’s strategy of convincing nervous Democrats to immediately end the shutdown without resolving the health care issue was not working.

The dueling bills, one from Republicans and the other from Democrats, failed again in the Senate.

Shutdown grinds on, but signs of quiet talks

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 as part of any plan to end the shutdown.

House Speaker Mike Johnson appears so confident he is preparing to take live questions from callers on C-SPAN’s Thursday morning show public affairs show. On Wednesday he squared off against Democratic senators outside his office.

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

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer’s expletive-dotted rant was finding fans on social media.

At its core, the debate is over the health care issue 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 during his first term at the White House.

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. Those enhanced subsidies are set to expire at year’s end.

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.

Trump wants to make a health care deal

A loosely formed collection of senators, Republicans and Democrats, have bantered about options for addressing the health insurance problem.

One Republican, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, has offered her own plan for kickstarting talks. It involves re-opening the government now, but with a “commitment,” she said, to discussing the health care issue.

Another option floated by GOP Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota, a former state governor, is a temporary extension of the subsidies, for one year, and then a phase out — though House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries has panned the short extension as a nonstarter.

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 “great health care” for the people, only to shift his tone hours later to say the government must reopen first.

“I spoke to the president at length yesterday about that very thing,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said about his Monday conversation with Trump. “And yes, he wants to solve problems.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, the Republican from South Dakota, has said there may be a path forward — once the government reopens.

Doubts are high and trust is low

But Democrats argue that Republicans failed to address the expiring health care subsidies this summer when they approved Trump’s signature bill into law, commonly referred to as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

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.

“Tens of millions of people are about to experience dramatically increased health insurance costs — how is that acceptable in the wealthiest country in the history of the world?” said Jeffries of New York.

“A health care crisis is unfolding before the eyes of the American people because of the actions taken by the GOP — they’re on vacation,” he said.

Missed paychecks for workers, and more failed votes

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.

The union leaders warned Trump against using the federal workers as “political pawns” in the political brawl.

“And president, you better start obeying the Constitution,” Erwin said.

Part of the reason the parties are so unwilling to budge from their positions is because their internal data is encouraging them not to cave.

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.

“It would be a mistake to take the pressure off Republicans,” the memo says.

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

Each side has framed the shutdown fight as a precursor to the 2026 midterm elections.