Gov’t shutdown enters fifth day as Democrat-Republican impasse persists
WASHINGTON—Republican and Democratic lawmakers at an impasse on reopening the federal government, provided few public signs on Sunday of meaningful negotiations taking place to end what has so far been a five-day shutdown.
Leaders in both parties are betting that public sentiment has swung their way, putting pressure on the other side to cave. Democrats are insisting on renewing subsidies to cover health insurance costs for millions of households, while President Donald Trump wants to preserve existing spending levels and is threatening to permanently fire federal workers if the government remains closed.
The squabble comes at a moment of troubling economic uncertainty. While the US economy has continued to grow this year, hiring has slowed and inflation remains elevated as Trump’s import taxes have created a series of disruptions for businesses and employers have hurt confidence in his leadership. At the same time, there is a recognition that the nearly $2-trillion annual budget deficit is financially unsustainable yet there has to be a coalition around the potential tax increases and spending cuts to reduce borrowing levels.
House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said there have been no talks with Republican leaders since their White House meeting on Monday.
‘Radio silent’
“And unfortunately, since that point in time, Republicans, including Donald Trump, have gone radio silent,” Jeffries said. “And what we’ve seen is negotiation through deep fake videos, the House canceling votes and of course President Trump spending yesterday on the golf course. That’s not responsible behavior.”
Trump was asked via text message by CNN’s Jake Tapper about shutdown talks. The Republican president responded with confidence but no details.
“We are winning and cutting costs big time,” Trump said in a text message, according to CNN.
His administration sees the shutdown as an opening to wield greater power over the budget, with multiple officials saying they will save money as workers are furloughed by imposing permanent job cuts on thousands of government workers, a tactic that has never been used before.
While Trump rose to fame on the TV show “The Apprentice” with his catchphrase of “You’re fired,” Republicans on Sunday claimed that the administration would take no pleasure in letting go of federal workers, even though they have put funding on hold for infrastructure and energy projects in Democratic areas.
“We haven’t seen the details yet about what’s happening” with layoffs, House Speaker Mike Johnson said on NBC. “But it is a regrettable situation that the president does not want.”
Friday layoffs
Kevin Hassett, director of the White House National Economic Council, said that the administration wants to avoid the layoffs it had indicated could start on Friday, a deadline that came and went without any decisions being announced.
“We want the Democrats to come forward and to make a deal that’s a clean, continuing resolution that gives us seven more weeks to talk about these things,” Hassett said on CNN. “But the bottom line is that with Republicans in control, the Republicans have a lot more power over the outcome than the Democrats.”
Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff of California defended his party’s stance on the shutdown, saying on NBC that the possible increase in health-care costs for “millions of Americans” would make insurance unaffordable in what he called a “crisis.”
But Schiff also noted that the Trump administration has withheld congressionally approved spending from being used, essentially undermining the value of Democrats’ seeking compromises on the budgets as the White House could decline to not honor Congress’ wishes.
The Trump administration sent Congress roughly $4.9 billion in “pocket rescissions” on foreign aid, a process that meant the spending was withheld without time for Congress to weigh in before the previous fiscal year ended last month.
