The United States government is on the brink of a shutdown after the Senate rejected competing funding proposals from Democrats and Republicans on Tuesday. Both plans failed to reach the 60-vote threshold needed to advance, leaving federal funding set to expire at midnight.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune blamed Democrats for the impasse, stating: 'Far-left interest groups and far-left Democrat members wanted to show down with the president, and so Senate Democrats have sacrificed the American people to Democrats’ partisan interests.' Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer countered that Republicans refused to negotiate on key issues, including tax credits for Affordable Care Act plans and reversing cuts to Medicaid.
The White House has threatened mass layoffs of federal workers if a shutdown occurs. President Donald Trump said earlier in the day: 'When you shut it down, you have to do layoffs, so we’d be laying off a lot of people,' adding that those affected 'are going to be Democrats.' The Office of Management and Budget released a letter blaming 'Democrats’ insane policy demands' for the expected shutdown.
Three Democratic senators—Catherine Cortez Masto, Angus King, and John Fetterman—voted for the Republican proposal, citing concerns about giving the Trump administration more power during a shutdown. Fetterman said: 'My vote was for our country over my party.' Senate Republican leaders plan to hold another vote on Wednesday to pressure Democrats to change their stance.
The spending deadlock persisted despite a meeting between Trump and congressional Democratic leaders on Monday, which yielded no breakthrough. After the meeting, Trump posted an AI-generated video on social media depicting House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Schumer in a derogatory manner, prompting Jeffries to respond: 'The next time you have something to say about me, don’t cop out through a racist and fake AI video. When I’m back in the Oval Office, say it to my face.'
