President Donald Trump speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the White House on Oct. 9, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Thursday he’s prepared to cancel funding approved by Congress that he believes is going toward programs supported by Democrats, though he didn’t share any additional details during a Cabinet meeting. 

“We’ll be cutting some very popular Democratic programs that aren’t popular with Republicans,” he said. “They wanted to do this, so we’ll give them a little taste of their own medicine.” 

Meanwhile, on day nine of the government shutdown, members of the U.S. Senate for the seventh time failed to advance either a Democratic or Republican stopgap spending bill, and House Speaker Mike Johnson said partisan tensions in his chamber are so intense he is reluctant to bring members back until a resolution is found. 

“This gets personal. Emotions are high. People are upset. I’m upset,” Johnson told reporters at a morning press conference.

Layoffs, denial of back pay also threatened

Trump has signaled throughout the shutdown he wants to unilaterally cancel funding approved by Congress, lay off federal workers by the thousands and may try to reinterpret a 2019 law that requires back pay for furloughed federal employees after the funding lapse ends. 

He has yet to give any real details on those plans or say exactly when he’ll try to take those steps, which would likely result in additional lawsuits. 

Trump said during the hour-long public portion of the Cabinet meeting that Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought would be able to share more details, but Vought never spoke and Trump didn’t call on him. 

“The shutdown has been, you know, pretty damaging. I mean, not yet, because it’s early. But it gets a little bit worse as it goes along,” Trump said. “And we’ll be making cuts that will be permanent and we’re only going to cut Democrat programs. I hate to tell you. I guess that makes sense, but we’re only cutting Democratic programs. But we’re going to start that and we have Russell, who can talk to you about it if he wants to.”

The president is generally required to faithfully execute the laws that Congress approves, including the government funding bills. 

The White House budget office has frozen or canceled funding several times this year without going to lawmakers for approval, which is required under a 1970s law. 

That has led to a slew of lawsuits and the Government Accountability Office repeatedly citing the administration for illegally impounding funds. 

No progress on votes

On Capitol Hill, lawmakers remained deadlocked over how to advance a stopgap bill to fund the government for a few weeks. 

The Senate voted 54-45 on the House-passed bill that would fund federal programs through Nov. 21 and 47-50 on Democrats’ counterproposal that would provide spending authority through Oct. 31 and make substantial changes to health care policy. 

The tally for the seventh vote to advance those two proposals wasn’t much different from the previous ones. Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto and Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman, both Democrats, as well as Maine independent Sen. Angus King voted with Republicans to advance their bill. Kentucky GOP Sen. Rand Paul voted no.

Legislation needs the support of at least 60 senators to advance under that chamber’s legislative filibuster rule. 

The vote came shortly after Speaker Johnson, R-La., made disparaging remarks about Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer during his press conference, with the two increasingly blaming each other for the funding impasse.  

“There is one thing that Chuck Schumer cares about more than anything else and that is his Senate seat,” Johnson said. “The guy has been in Congress for 44 years. He doesn’t know how to live life outside this building and so he will do anything to make sure that he keeps that seat.”

Johnson, asked about the increasing tensions between Republicans and Democrats over the funding lapse and health care policy, said it is likely better to keep lawmakers in that chamber separated until a resolution is reached. 

“I’m a very patient man, but I am very angry right now because this is dangerous stuff,” Johnson said. “And so, is it better for them, probably, to be physically separated right now? Yeah, it probably is, frankly. 

“I wish that weren’t the case. But we do have to turn the volume down. The best way to turn the volume down is to turn the lights back on and get the government open for the people.”

Shutdown pay for members of the military 

Johnson reiterated that he does not intend to bring the House back from an extended recess to vote on a stand-alone bill to provide on-time paychecks to military members during the shutdown. 

Johnson stuck to his position that the best way to ensure pay for U.S. troops is for Democrats to pass the GOP stopgap spending bill, despite Trump breaking with Johnson on that particular issue. 

Trump, asked Wednesday about the upcoming Oct. 15 payday for military members, said “that probably will happen” and that the “military is always going to be taken care of.”

But, Johnson said during his Thursday press conference the only way out is through the Republican stopgap bill that remains stalled in the Senate. 

“We have already voted to pay the troops. We did it three weeks ago. We put that bill on the floor, and the Republicans voted to pay the troops, TSA agents, border patrol, air traffic control and everybody else,” Johnson said. “So coming back here and doing it and having a duplicative vote to do the same thing they already did would accomplish nothing.”

Schumer, D-N.Y., said during a floor speech the shutdown will not end until after Republicans and Democrats find a way to extend tax credits for people who buy their health insurance from the Affordable Care Act Marketplace past the end of the year. 

Schumer also rebuked Johnson for the House schedule, which has only had members in Washington, D.C., for 12 days since the end of July. 

“If you’re someone who works two jobs or weekends or overtime to make ends meet, what on Earth are you supposed to think when House Republicans can’t even be bothered to show up to reopen the government?” Schumer said. 

New England senators initiate talks

Senate Appropriations Chairwoman Susan Collins, R-Maine, said she has been speaking with New Hampshire Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen about possible solutions to the impasse. 

“I have been in very close contact with Sen. Shaheen, who is very constructive, and is trying to find a path forward,” Collins said.  

“The ACA issue is important to a lot of us, not just to Democrats,” she added. “The tax subsidies were enhanced during COVID. They do need to be reformed, but they do need to be extended as well. They expire at the end of the year. We need to open up government today before more harm is done, before people in the military don’t have their paychecks.”

 Ariana Figueroa and Shauneen Miranda contributed to this report. 

President Donald Trump speaks to the media in the Oval Office at the White House on Sept. 2, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump sent mixed messages Monday about whether he would negotiate a deal with Democrats to extend the enhanced tax credits for people who get their health insurance from the Affordable Care Act Marketplace, one of the main issues that led to the government shutdown. 

His comments came shortly before the Senate deadlocked for a fifth time on short-term government funding bills, voting 45-50 on Democrats’ proposal and 52-42 on a House-passed Republican stopgap spending bill. Both needed at least 60 votes to advance.

Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto and Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman, both Democrats, as well as Maine independent Sen. Angus King voted with Republicans to advance their multi-week funding bill. Kentucky GOP Sen. Rand Paul voted no.

Trump said during a press conference “some very good things could happen with respect to health care” and that “if we made the right deal, I’d make a deal, sure,” before sharply criticizing the 2010 health care law, also called Obamacare. 

“That’s the problem with Obamacare. The subsidies are so much — billions and billions of dollars is being wasted,” Trump said. “And we could have much better health care than we have right now. And we’re talking to them. I’m not saying that’s going to happen.”

Trump centered much of his 2016 campaign for the presidency around repealing and replacing the health care law, but Republicans were unable to do so with unified control of government during the first half of his first term.  

After Democrats swept in the 2020 elections, they enhanced the tax credits for people who buy their health insurance through the ACA Marketplace in a coronavirus relief law. Those enhanced subsidies are set to expire at the end of December. 

Democratic leaders for weeks have called on Republicans to negotiate a bipartisan agreement to extend those enhanced tax credits ahead of open enrollment beginning on Nov. 1. 

That didn’t happen and Democrats have largely voted against advancing a stopgap spending bill written by Republicans that was needed to fund the government past the end of September. 

‘On another planet’

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said during a floor speech shortly before Trump spoke from the Oval Office that the president and GOP leaders seem “to be on another planet.”

“Instead of trying to solve this shutdown crisis, Donald Trump spent the weekend golfing and posting memes and deepfakes on the internet,” Schumer said. “He seems to think this shutdown is some big joke. He’s wrong.”

Schumer released a statement following Trump’s press conference, saying the two sides aren’t negotiating, despite the president saying “we are speaking with the Democrats.” 

“For months, Democrats have been calling on Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans to come to the table and work with us to deliver lower costs and better healthcare for the American people,” Schumer wrote. “If President Trump and Republicans are finally ready to sit down and get something done on healthcare for American families, Democrats will be there — ready to make it happen.”

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said during a morning press conference he will only negotiate with Democrats on the enhanced ACA Marketplace tax credits after the shutdown ends. 

But Johnson did indicate he believes the expiring expansion likely needs a resolution before open enrollment begins next month.

“They’ve been saying that some of the insurance companies will be sending out notices in early November. The last time I checked, it’s Oct. 6. We have the entire month of October,” Johnson said. “We’ll stay here around the clock to work through all these things, but we have to get government open again to do it.”

Discussion about passing bills

The House has been in recess since mid-September and Johnson has refused to bring representatives back until after the Senate approves a bill to reopen the government. 

Johnson revealed during the press conference that he had a “fruitful conversation” a few days ago with Senate Appropriations Committee ranking member Patty Murray, D-Wash., about the annual government funding process, which lawmakers were supposed to complete by the start of the fiscal year on Oct. 1.

Johnson said he gave Murray assurances that he would hold floor votes on the final bipartisan versions of the dozen full-year bills after the Democrats and Republicans in charge of each subcommittee worked out an agreement.

“I’m ready to go,” Johnson said. “But we’ve got to open government up so that they can move to that next level, so that the conference committee can get that work done. That is small-d democracy at its best; you get Rs and Ds, everybody in the room, and they hash it out, and whatever that final product is, we will move through the process.”

The House has passed three of the full-year government funding bills along party-line votes and the Senate has approved three with a broadly bipartisan vote. 

Congress’ failure to approve all of the bills on time, combined with its inability to approve a stopgap spending bill to keep funding on autopilot while lawmakers work out a final full-year agreement, is why a shutdown began.

Dems say bipartisan talks needed to end shutdown

Murray posted later in the day on social media that bipartisan talks between the congressional leaders are the best option to end the shutdown.

“I’ll reiterate now what I told @SpeakerJohnson: the only path forward begins with him & @LeaderJohnThune talking with Leaders Schumer & Jeffries,” Murray wrote. “Premium hikes are going out THIS MONTH. We need a deal that reopens the government & stops premiums from doubling.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during an afternoon briefing before Trump spoke that he “is definitely committed to fixing and improving our health care system,” though she declined to say if he supports extending the enhanced ACA tax credits as they exist. 

Leavitt also opted not to fully answer questions about when the administration will begin laying off federal workers by the thousands, saying the White House budget office continues to consult with Cabinet secretaries to determine which workers may lose their jobs. 

“We’ll see how the vote goes tonight,” Leavitt said, referring to the Senate’s Monday evening vote on the stopgap spending bills. 

Rural air service, air traffic controllers

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said during a press conference at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey that the shutdown means there are only a few days left of funding for the Essential Air Service program, which provides federal “subsidies to airlines to service” rural communities. 

“That money runs out this Sunday, so there are many small communities across the country that will now no longer have the resources to make sure they have air service in their community,” Duffy said.  

Alaska will be the most affected by that particular funding lapse, he said. 

Duffy said there has been a “slight” increase in the number of air traffic controllers calling out sick during the shutdown but added it hadn’t caused any safety challenges yet. That will all change if transportation officials feel the staffing isn’t adequate for the number of flights. 

“If we see there are issues in the tower that are affecting the controllers’ ability to effectively control the airspace, we’ll reduce the rate and you’ll see more delays or you might see a cancellation,” Duffy said. “I’m willing to do that before we’re willing to risk anyone’s life in the air.”

Duffy, a former Republican congressman from Wisconsin, said he had spoken earlier in the day with air traffic controllers who were thinking about taking on jobs at ride-sharing companies to pay the bills, since they will not be paid until after the shutdown ends. 

He said the effects of the funding lapse, including air traffic controllers worrying how they’ll make ends meet, are problematic, especially if they’re distracted by it while on shift or exhausted from working other jobs.  

“I don’t want them finding a second job to pay the bills,” Duffy said. “I want them to get paid for the work they’re doing today, keeping our planes in the air and our skies safe.”

Duffy also reiterated the Transportation Security Administration, or TSA, which screens people entering airports, is housed within the Department of Homeland Security, not DOT. 

 Shauneen Miranda contributed to this report. 

Donna Powell, 66, a resident of Austin, Texas, who is temporarily living in the nation's capital, holds a sign at the "Healthcare Over Billionaires" rally hosted by Fair Share America and nearly three dozen other advocacy organizations outside the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025, hours before federal government funding ran out at midnight. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)

WASHINGTON — A large crowd gathered on Capitol Hill Tuesday hours before a federal government shutdown to protest rising health care costs — the crux of Democrats’ stand against approving a temporary Republican funding bill.

More than a dozen Democratic lawmakers joined activists and people who shared stories of rising health insurance premium costs at the “Healthcare Over Billionaires” rally hosted by the advocacy group Fair Share America, along with nearly three dozen labor unions, political advocacy groups and other organizations. 

Senate Democrats again on Tuesday blocked Republicans’ temporary government funding bill, citing the expiration of Affordable Care Act enhanced premium tax credits that since 2021 have lowered health insurance costs tied to an enrollee’s income. 

The standoff means a federal government shutdown will begin after midnight Tuesday.

Tony Gonzales, of Indiana County, Pennsylvania, told the crowd he worries how losing the premium tax credits will affect his family’s finances as he continues treatment for thymic carcinoma, a rare cancer he was diagnosed with two years ago.

“I need these subsidies. If the rich and the Republicans can go out there and have money for tax cuts, to buy another yacht, to go out in space, why can’t I at least have health care to address my needs, my wife’s needs, and maintain a lifestyle that we deserve as an American family?” said Gonzales.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota said her constituents are “standing on a health insurance cliff right now” and she will not support a Republican funding proposal until GOP lawmakers agree to extend the health insurance subsidies.

“When I hear them say, ‘oh, we’ll look at this in December, we’ll look at this in January.’ This is not a December thing. This is not a January thing. This is a now thing,” she said.

Open enrollment for health care plans begins Nov. 1 in most states, except Idaho, where it begins Oct. 15.

Annual insurance premiums could double on average in 2026 if the subsidies expire at year’s end, according to an analysis published Tuesday by the nonprofit health policy research organization KFF.

The enhanced premium tax credits were extended through 2025 under the Democrat-led budget reconciliation law in 2022, otherwise known as the Inflation Reduction Act.

Participation in Affordable Care Act health insurance exchanges has more than doubled to over 24 million, up from 11 million, since the introduction of the tax credits, which the majority of enrollees receive, according to KFF. 

Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chair Adriano Espaillat, a New York Democrat, speaks at a press conference outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 30, 2025. (Photo by Shauneen Miranda/States Newsroom)

WASHINGTON — A group of Democratic caucus leaders on Tuesday blasted a vulgar deepfake of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries posted by President Donald Trump on social media. 

The chairs of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Congressional Black Caucus, Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, Democratic Women’s Caucus, New Democrat Coalition, Congressional Progressive Caucus and Congressional Equality Caucus also refused to back down on their health care demands as the federal government barrels toward a shutdown.

The GOP and Democratic lawmakers are in a deadlock, and funding is set to run out by midnight Tuesday, when the new fiscal year begins.

“We won’t vote for anything that doesn’t restore the cuts to Medicaid and doesn’t protect people that will be paying higher premiums,” Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chair Adriano Espaillat said at a press conference outside the U.S. Capitol, referring to Medicaid reductions made in the “big, beautiful” law enacted by Republicans earlier this year.

The New York Democrat said “we won’t mess around with Americans’ health care — people that are sick that deserve to have a first-quality health care system providing assistance to them in one of the most serious periods of their lives.” 

While Republicans want a “clean” stopgap funding bill to keep the government open, Democrats are calling for the extension of enhanced Affordable Care Act tax credits set to expire at the end of 2025 and the reversal of sweeping health care changes brought by the GOP’s mega tax and spending cuts law, including the massive funding cuts to Medicaid. 

‘Racist meme’ by Trump slammed

Trump posted the deepfake on his social media platform Truth Social just hours after his White House meeting with Schumer, Jeffries, Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota and House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana, which failed to yield any funding deal. The Congressional Budget Office estimated Tuesday that some 750,000 federal employees could be furloughed if the government shuts down. 

The 35-second video appears to be AI-generated and uses the setting of Schumer and Jeffries, both New York Democrats, speaking to reporters outside the White House after their meeting with Trump. 

The fake video shows Jeffries with a sombrero and mustache and Schumer ranting that “if we give all these illegal aliens free health care, we might be able to get them on our side so they can vote for us.” 

Espaillat of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus described the video as “insulting,” saying it shows Trump is “out of touch with the health care challenges of the American people.” 

The New York Democrat said “with your health care on the line, all he could do is put out this deepfake racist meme — not funny at all, not for any of us here, particularly for people that are ill and fighting for their lives that need health care.” 

Democratic Women’s Caucus Chair Teresa Leger Fernández also blasted the video, saying “that’s not how you get to a deal.” Instead, the New Mexico Democrat said Trump’s decision to post it “looks like a little 6-year-old having a temper tantrum.” 

‘Bigotry will get you nowhere’

Congressional Black Caucus Chair Yvette Clarke, a New York Democrat, said “the juvenile behavior coming out of the White House should not be dignified by any American.”   

Clarke noted that her caucus “will not support a partisan spending bill that slashes health care, guts federal jobs and raises costs, all while targeting the very communities that keep this country running.” 

In a social media post Monday responding to the fabricated video, Schumer said “if you think your shutdown is a joke, it just proves what we all know: You can’t negotiate. You can only throw tantrums.” 

Jeffries also responded to Trump on social media Monday, saying “bigotry will get you nowhere” and “we are NOT backing down.”