WASHINGTON — Republican leaders are ratcheting up pressure on their Democratic colleagues to end the federal shutdown, claiming no deals can be made on extraneous policy legislation until they vote to reopen the government.
Top Republicans ramped up the rhetoric in their public remarks this week, calling out Senate Democrats by name to personally blame them for the shutdown — calling them responsible for the expected lapse in SNAP funding that could leave millions of Americans without food assistance starting this weekend.
“On Saturday, things are going to become very dark,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said on Thursday. “There is one way out of this, the easy way, the obvious way, and that is for the Democrats to do their job and vote for this nonpartisan funding measure so that we can turn everything back on.”
Johnson’s comments come as tensions reached a boiling point this week, resulting in strained bipartisan relationships and the typically mild-mannered Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., yelling on the Senate floor on Wednesday.
“SNAP recipients shouldn’t go without food.. “We’ve tried to do that 13 times — and you voted no 13 times!" Thune said as he waved his arms around and pointed toward Democrats. “And you have all just figured out 29 days in that, ‘Oh, there may be some consequences?’”
The Senate has voted 13 times on a Republican-led clean continuing resolution to reopen the government until Nov. 21 in an effort to buy appropriators more time to finish the full-year spending bills. But the bill requires 60 votes to overcome a filibuster in the upper chamber, meaning at least eight Senate Democrats would need to cross party lines for it to succeed.
So far, only three have done so — prompting Republicans to target Democrats in vulnerable seats to end the shutdown.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., read out names of senators during a press conference on Thursday, listing the number of state residents at risk of losing their SNAP benefits as well as federal employees who are not being paid during the shutdown. Those consequences, he contended, sat squarely on the shoulders of Democrats.
“But the only way this suffering is prevented is if they come to their senses and go, ‘Yes,’” Scalise said. “We all know the math. We all know what’s needed. It’s not just math. It’s millions and millions of families across this country that will truly suffer and go without food if they vote no.”
Bipartisan talks appeared to stall earlier this week as appropriators hunt for ways to advance full-year spending bills along with a deal to reopen the government. Although no deal has been finalized, some lawmakers expressed cautious optimism that an end could be in sight within the coming weeks.
“I express optimism because whenever you’re talking, it’s better than not talking,” Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., told reporters on Thursday.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, who has also been involved in the bipartisan discussions, confirmed there are “talks about talks” occurring between senators — but noted there has not yet been enough to yield results.
But Thune and Johnson made one thing clear: Democrats must vote on the Republican-led resolution to reopen the government before any of their demands can be negotiated. That means specific funding levels and an extension of enhanced Obamacare subsidies must wait until after the government’s lights are back on.
“We were always planning to have the debate about the COVID-era subsidies and all these other issues in October, November, December,” Johnson said on Thursday. “The COVID-era subsidies don’t expire until the end of December. There are all sorts of discussions going on about it, all kinds of ideas.”
With a deal on passing appropriations bills on the horizon, Thune warned it could take several days before those packages make their way through the Senate.
“Even if you’ve got consent it’s still going to take a while to move those bills across the floor so we’ve got to reopen the government and then we’ll have a normal appropriations process,” Thune said.
Part of that deal would likely require a longer-term continuing resolution to extend government funding, with some lawmakers looking to early next year as an adequate deadline. An exact date has not yet been decided as some fiscal conservatives have floated extending the 2025 spending levels through the end of fiscal year 2026 — something Democrats are likely to reject.
“I don’t think Democrats can sign on to a full-year budget unless it, you know, also constrains the level of illegality happening,” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said, referring to President Donald Trump’s spending cuts from previous budgets.
Murphy noted that he and other Democrats want assurances that any spending deal passed won’t be discarded by the president later on.
“We’d be suckers to sign on to a budget if they’re going to use rescissions to just destroy major programs that were in the budget and were the reason that we voted for it,” he said.
The Senate adjourned on Thursday without taking a vote to reopen the government, ensuring the shutdown will last through the weekend into the first week of November. The shutdown is barreling toward becoming the longest in U.S. history, a mark it will hit if the government remains closed past Tuesday.
The House is not expected to return until the government is reopened. The lower chamber has not been in session for votes since Sept. 19.