US government shutdown enters second week, no end in sight

WASHINGTON: The US government shutdown entered its second week on Monday (Oct 6), with no sign of a deal between President Donald Trump’s Republicans and Democrats to end the crisis.

Democrats are refusing to provide the handful of votes the ruling Republicans need to reopen federal departments, unless an agreement is reached on extending expiring “Obamacare” healthcare subsidies and reversing some cuts to health programmes passed as part of Trump’s signature “One Big Beautiful Bill”.

With the government out of money since Wednesday and grinding to a halt, Senate Democrats looked set to vote against a House-passed temporary funding bill for a fifth time.

The hard line taken by Democrats marks a rare moment of leverage for the opposition party in a period when Trump and his ultra-loyal Republicans control every branch of government and Trump himself is accused of seeking to amass authoritarian-like powers.

With funding not renewed, non-critical services are being suspended.

Salaries for hundreds of thousands of public sector employees are set to be withheld from Friday, while military personnel could miss their paychecks from Oct 15.

And Trump has upped the ante by threatening to have large numbers of government employees fired, rather than just furloughed – placed on temporary unpaid leave status – as is normally done during shutdowns.

The president said on Sunday that workers were already being fired, but White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt walked back the comments a day later, saying he was only “referring to the hundreds of thousands of federal workers who have been furloughed”.

Republicans are digging in their heels, with House Speaker Mike Johnson telling his members not even to report to Congress unless the Democrats cave, insisting any healthcare negotiation be held after re-opening the government.

“If he’s serious about lowering costs and protecting the healthcare of the American people, why wait?” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a challenge to Johnson on Monday.

“Democrats are ready to do it now,” he wrote on X.