The government shutdown, now in its 34th day, is set to make history this week as the longest ever, and its effects are growing more painful, with millions missing food aid and airport delays mounting.
Trump insists he won’t be ‘extorted’: In an interview with CBS News’s “60 Minutes” that aired Sunday night, President Donald Trump gave little indication that he was looking for a deal. “Democrats' fault,” he insisted when asked about the shutdown, adding, “They've become crazed lunatics.” Trump also insisted that he would not be “extorted by the Democrats who have lost their way.”
Democrats are demanding that expiring subsidies for Affordable Care Act insurance plans get extended to prevent premiums from soaring. Trump said he’d work on a healthcare fix but insisted that Democrats should first reopen the government. “We should fix that. We should fix it,” he said. “And we can fix it with the Democrats. All they have to do is let the country open and we'll fix it.”
Asked where his healthcare plan is, Trump circled back to blame the Democrats and former Sen. John McCain, who famously cast a vote against repealing Obamacare. Trump said Democrats would eventually have to give in and vote to reopen the government, and he again called on Senate Republicans to end the filibuster.
What could change this week: As the shutdown stalemate drags on with little engagement from Trump, informal Senate negotiations reportedly have given lawmakers reason to be hopeful that a deal to end the shutdown may be achievable, perhaps even this week.
Some also hope that Tuesday’s elections will change the five-week-old dynamics of the standoff. The results of the balloting will be closely watched for what they say about voter sentiment, and some Republicans believe that Democrats will be more likely to end the shutdown once Election Day has passed.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters Monday afternoon that bipartisan talks among rank-and-file lawmakers continued over the weekend, and he is “optimistic” that lawmakers can reach a deal this week to end the shutdown.
“Based on my gut and how these things operate, I think we’re getting close to an off-ramp,” Thune said. “The objective here is to try and get something that we could send back to the House that would open up the government.”
Any bill to reopen the government at this point would have to extend federal funding beyond the November 21 date Republicans set in the measure passed by the House in September. Republican leaders are reportedly eyeing a new deadline sometime between late January and March.