Federal government shutdown grinds into a week two as tempers flare at
the Capitol
[October 09, 2025]
By LISA MASCARO, MARY CLARE JALONICK and JOEY CAPPELLETTI
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 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: Military personnel and federal
employees are set to miss paychecks, flights are being delayed at
airports nationwide and federal programs are disrupted. Confrontations
erupted at the Capitol.
Two dueling bills, one from Republicans and the other from Democrats,
failed again in the Senate.
Shutdown grinds on and tempers flare
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 public affairs
show.
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 insisted it was Republicans who
are “feeling the heat.”
Tensions rose Wednesday to a boil.
Outside the speaker's office, Arizona’s two Democratic senators who were
demanding that Johnson re-open the House to swear in Rep.-elect Adelita
Grijalva. She won a special election to the state's Tucson-area seat
last month and has said she would sign on to releasing the files on the
sex trafficking investigations into Jeffrey Epstein, but has yet to be
seated in Congress.
Johnson, facing a diminished GOP majority once the new Democrat takes
office, declined.
A short time later House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York
was confronted by home state GOP Rep. Mike Lawler. He was demanding the
leader's support for a one-year extension of the expiring health care
subsidies, as Democrats pushed for a better deal. The encounter quickly
digressed.
“You shut the government down,” Lawler railed.
“You're embarrassing yourself,” Jeffries retorted.
Health insurance for millions is at stake
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.
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Rep. Michael Lawler, R-N.Y., left, confronts House Minority Leader
Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., in a heated discussion to endorse House
bill H.R.5145 that would extend the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021
(ARPA) and the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 at the U.S. Capitol
on Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
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.
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. Some of them met over Thai food dinner.
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.
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’m pretty discouraged,” Rounds said Wednesday. “My sense is that’s
probably past the point of getting anything done.”
Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., sounded a similarly sour note.
"I’m an optimist, but wow are we not making much progress,” Coons
said.
But GOP Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, who is close to Trump,
said, “There’s always a group talking,”
Missed paychecks for workers, and more failed votes
While federal employees have often missed paychecks during
shutdowns, Trump is now threatening to do away with guaranteed back
pay, which 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.
Senate Democrats have been briefed on information suggesting their
health care messaging was resonating with voters. A memo from Senate
Majority PAC was also circulated to House Democrats and campaigns
nationwide on Tuesday, with a clear directive: hold the line.
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.
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Associated Press writers Kevin Freking, Stephen Groves and Matt
Brown contributed to this report.
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