WASHINGTON (AP) — As the government shutdown enters its fourth week, Senate Republicans are headed to the White House on Tuesday — for a display of unity with President Donald Trump. Senate Democrats, too, are confident in their strategy to keep voting against a House-passed bill that would reopen the government. It’s unclear how long the stalemate will […]
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Senate Republicans head to the White House in a show of unity as the shutdown enters its fourth week
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WASHINGTON (AP) — As the government shutdown enters its fourth week, Senate Republicans are headed to the White House on Tuesday — for a display of unity with President Donald Trump.
Senate Democrats, too, are confident in their strategy to keep voting against a House-passed bill that would reopen the government.
It’s unclear how long the stalemate will last — even as hundreds of thousands of federal workers will miss another paycheck in the coming days and states are sounding warnings that key federal programs will soon lapse completely. And the lunch meeting in the White House Rose Garden appears unlikely, for now, to lead to a bipartisan resolution as Senate Republicans are dug in and Trump has followed their lead.
Asked about the message at lunch, Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming, second in Senate GOP leadership, told Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends” on Tuesday that it will be, “Republicans are united, and I expect the president to say, ‘Stand strong.’”
Senate Republican leader John Thune, of South Dakota said on Monday that he thinks Trump is ready to “get involved on having the discussion” about extending the expiring Obamacare health care subsidies. “But I don’t think they are prepared to do that until (Democrats) open up the government,” he said.
Missed paychecks and programs running out of money
While Capitol Hill remains at a standstill, the effects of the shutdown are worsening.
Federal workers are set to miss additional paychecks amid total uncertainty about when they might eventually get paid. Government services like the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, known as WIC, and Head Start preschool programs that serve needy families are facing potential cutoffs in funding. On Monday, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the National Nuclear Security Administration is furloughing 1,400 federal workers. The Federal Aviation Administration has reported air controller shortages and flight delays in cities across the United States.
November deadlines
Members of both parties acknowledge that as the shutdown drags on, it is becoming less likely every day that Congress will be able to either extend the subsidies or fund the government through the regular appropriations process. The House GOP bill that Senate Democrats have now rejected 11 times would only keep the government open through Nov. 21.
Thune on Monday hinted that Republicans may propose a longer extension of current funding instead of passing individual spending bills if the shutdown doesn’t end soon. Congress would need to pass an extension beyond Nov. 21, he said, “if not something on a much longer-term basis.”
Democrats are focused on Nov. 1, when next year’s enrollment period for Obamacare coverage begins and millions of people will sign up for their coverage without the expanded subsidy help that began during the COVID-19 pandemic. Once those sign-ups begin, they say, it would be much harder to restore the subsidies even if they did have a bipartisan compromise.
What about Trump?
Tuesday’s White House meeting will be a chance for Republican senators to engage with the president on the shutdown.
The president last week dismissed Democratic demands as “crazy,” adding, “We’re just not going to do it.”
North Dakota Sen. John Hoeven said that Republican senators will talk strategy with the president at Tuesday’s lunch. “Obviously, we’ll talk to him about it, and he’ll give us his ideas, and we’ll talk about ours,” Hoeven said. “Anything we can do to try to get Democrats to join us” and pass the Republican bill to reopen the government, Hoeven said.
Still, GOP lawmakers expect Trump to stay in line with their current posture to reject negotiations until the government is open.
“Until they put something reasonable on the table to talk about, I don’t think there’s anything to talk about,” said Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy.
PHOTO – Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., pauses in his office doorway to speak to reporters on day 20 of the government shutdown, at the Capitol in Washington, Monday, Oct. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)