US federal shutdown enters third week as Senate rejects Republican plan to reopen govt

The US Senate rejected a Republican bid to lift the shutdown that began two weeks ago, making federal employees anxious about their pay and disrupting flights across the US.

The Senate failed for the eighth time to advance a Republican bill to fund the government through November 21, with a 49–45 vote falling well short of the 60 needed to move forward. In a sign of stalled negotiations, no senators changed their votes from the previous attempt, though a few were absent.

Dems and GOP trade barbs

While federal employees continue to lose their jobs, Republicans and Democrats have been pinning blame on each other for delaying the passing of the funding bill. Democratic leader Chuck Schumer also blamed the Trump administration for approving a bailout package for Argentina in the midst of a government shutdown.

“If this administration has $20bn to spare for a Maga-friendly foreign government, they cannot turn around and say we don’t have the money lower healthcare costs here at home,” Schumer said.

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Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader John Thune accused Democrats of holding up government funding over their push to extend expiring subsidies for Affordable Care Act coverage. If the tax credits expire, millions of Americans could face steep increases in their health insurance premiums.

“Democrats were against shutdowns when it suited their political purposes, and now that it suits their political purposes – they think – to keep the government closed, now they support shutdowns,” Thune said.

What’s the issue?

Democrats have withheld support for the Republican-led proposal, arguing that it undermines healthcare access for low-income Americans.

They are pushing for any funding bill to protect health insurance subsidies for lower-income individuals and to restore Medicaid funding that the Trump administration reduced.

Earlier, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer challenged Johnson to begin health care talks immediately.

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“If he’s serious about lowering costs and protecting the health care of the American people, why wait?” he said in a post on X. “Democrats are ready to do it now.”

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which he signed into law on July 4, would strip 11 million Americans of health care coverage, mainly through cuts to the Medicaid program for low-income families.