“It’s the only lever we have,” Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., responded when asked about the matter.

“We’re doing this because we’re hearing from so many families concerned about their healthcare,” said Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J. “We’re doing this because we’re hearing from them and wanting to address that.” Kim also blamed President Donald Trump and his allies, arguing that “this administration has been unwilling to actually negotiate.”

DEMOCRATS REFUSE TO BUDGE OVER OBAMACARE FIGHT AS SHUTDOWN DRAGS ON

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., said that the government shutdown is “the only lever” Democrats have to extend Obamacare subsidies, passed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Schumer and Jefferies have asked yet again to talk to Trump before Trump goes on an international trip,” Kim lamented. “When we have all this problem here at home, for the amount of money that Donald Trump has organized to send over to Argentina, we could have funded the ACA subsidies for another year.”

Republicans counter that Democrats are the ones refusing to negotiate, noting the Obamacare subsidies at issue don’t expire until year’s end and can be debated once the government reopens.

“The way I see it, 2024 was about one issue above and beyond all else, and that was about lowering costs,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.

TOP REPUBLICAN SLAMS KATHERINE CLARK FOR ADMITTING SUFFERING FAMILIES ARE ‘LEVERAGE’ IN SHUTDOWN BATTLE

When asked about his party’s tactics of holding the government hostage to extend Obamacare subsidies, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., insisted that lowering costs is the number-one priority for Americans right now.   (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)

But, it was swing-state Sen. John Fetterman, D-Penn., who objected to the framing of the question, telling Fox News Digital that “this isn’t a political game.”

“I would never say – I’m not going to describe the lives of millions of Americans as a euphemism, as ‘leverage,'” Fetterman shot back in response to the question. “This isn’t a political game. I’m not checking about how it’s polling or who’s going to blink. Millions of Pennsylvanians are going to lose their SNAP benefits and I think we should have them both at the same time.”

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Penn., said he thinks that negotiations to extend Obamacare subsidies can happen in good faith between Republicans and Democrats once they agree to reopen the government.  (Scott Eisen/Getty Images)

Fetterman, appearing to side with an argument coming from the GOP that the Obamacare subsidies can be negotiated after the government reopens, said he believes there can be “an honest conversation” between Republicans and Democrats once the government gets to a place where it can turn the lights back on.

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“I think plenty of [Republicans] are going to want this too – have that conversation – open up this government, because that’s not leverage, this is a fail,” Fetterman said.

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“[Rep. Jeffries], making sure U.S. troops get paid while Democrats keep the government shut down for free healthcare for illegal aliens — that’s called putting America First. But you wouldn’t know about it,” the White House wrote on X in reference to Jeffries’ criticism of the Shutdown Fairness Act.

The legislation was introduced by Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., and states that its goal is to “appropriate funds for pay and allowances of excepted Federal employees for periods of work performed during a lapse in appropriations, and for other purposes.”

HAWLEY VOWS TO HOLD DEMOCRATS’ ‘FEET TO THE FIRE’ WITH NEW GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN FUNDING BILLS

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., holds a press conference on the 14th day of the U.S. government shutdown on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., Oct. 14, 2025.  (Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters)

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., added the bill to the calendar last week, positioning it for a potential vote this week, according to Axios. The outlet noted that House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters he would bring the bill up for a vote in the House if it passes the Senate.

Jeffries echoed one of Democrats’ concerns about the legislation, which is that it does not help furloughed employees.

“My understanding is that that is not a comprehensive bill that actually is designed to reopen the government while at the same time addressing the issues that need to be confronted on behalf of the American people, which include lowering the high cost of living and decisively addressing the Republican healthcare crisis,” Jeffries told reporters on Monday.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., talk with reporters following their meeting with President Donald Trump and Republican leaders on the government funding crisis at the Capitol Sept. 29, 2025.  (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

MIKE JOHNSON FIRES BACK AT HAKEEM JEFFRIES’ ‘DESPERATE’ CALL FOR TELEVISED SHUTDOWN DEBATE

“So, it’s not legislation that I support because it appears to be more like a political ploy to pick and choose — giving Donald Trump discretion — which employees should be compensated and which employees should not be compensated. All employees should be compensated, and that will happen when we reopen the government.”

The White House appeared to take issue with the “political ploy” remark, posting a screenshot of a headline from The Daily Caller highlighting that part of Jeffries’ remarks and its criticism of the congressman.

President Donald Trump speaks to senior military leaders at Marine Corps Base Quantico Sept. 30, 2025, in Quantico, Va.  (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

TRUMP INSTRUCTS PENTAGON TO ENSURE TROOPS ARE PAID DESPITE GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN

President Donald Trump recently bypassed Congress and signed a directive ordering the Department of War to ensure that U.S. troops are paid despite the ongoing shutdown.

The White House said the move is necessary to protect “military readiness” as the budget standoff continued. The order, issued as National Security Presidential Memorandum-8 (NSPM-8), directs the department to use available fiscal year 2026 funds to cover military pay and allowances. Though it is unclear how the Pentagon is reallocating funds to comply with the order.

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While Democrats objected and said the president overstepped, Trump cited his Article II powers as commander in chief in issuing the order, which covers active-duty troops and reservists on service orders.

Fox News Digital reached out to Jeffries’ office for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

Fox News Digital’s Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.

Rachel Wolf is a breaking news writer for Fox News Digital and FOX Business.

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Approximately 42 million people in the U.S. who use the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) are in danger of not receiving aid come Nov. 1, when the program’s funds are expected to run dry, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) warned state agencies in a memo obtained by Fox News Digital on Thursday.

More than two dozen states have alerted residents to possible lapses in funding. Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin declared a state of emergency over SNAP benefits on Thursday.

“It requires about $8 billion each month to fund SNAP benefits nationwide. When there’s no funding it impacts not just pockets of people, but it’s going to impact people all around the country,” said Rev. Eugene Cho, president and CEO of Bread for the World, a nonprofit hunger advocacy group that works with local partners to educate recipients about access to food.

BATTLEGROUND REPUBLICANS HOLD THE LINE AS JOHNSON PRESSURES DEMS ON SHUTDOWN

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., speaks to the media next to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., after meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House, Sept. 29, 2025. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

Cho explained to Fox News Digital that some states will feel the drying up government funding more than others.

“Yes, funding comes from the federal government, but the administration of it happens through local states,” he said. “And so, when it comes to SNAP, states are on a little bit of a different rhythm in terms of how they’re conveying the reduction or the elimination of SNAP benefits. It is playing out a little bit differently from state to state.”

The longer the shutdown goes on, the less funding also becomes available for the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) nutrition program, which helps nearly 7 million vulnerable pregnant women and children under age 5.

SCREAMING MATCH ERUPTS BETWEEN HAKEEM JEFFRIES, MIKE LAWLER AS GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN CHAOS CONTINUES

It could pose a political headache for Democrats who have resisted agreeing to Republicans’ federal funding plan for over a month, demanding significant concessions on healthcare in exchange for their support.

“We are approaching an inflection point for Senate Democrats. Continue to hold out for healthcare for illegals or reopen the government so mothers, babies, and the most vulnerable among us can receive timely WIC and SNAP allotments,” a USDA spokesperson told Fox News Digital.

The House passed a seven-week extension of FY2025 funding largely along partisan lines on Sept. 19. The measure, a continuing resolution (CR), is aimed at giving lawmakers more time to strike a longer-term deal for FY2026.

A local bodega with “EBT accepted here” sign in window in Queens, New York. (Lindsey Nicholson/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

But in the Senate, where several more Democrats are needed to break a filibuster than have been voting for it, progress has stalled, with the legislation having failed 12 times already.

Democrats are demanding that any spending plan be paired with an extension of enhancedObamacare subsidiesthat are set to expire at the end of 2025.

They have also called for Republicans to repeal the Medicaid cuts made in their One Big, Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) earlier this year.

“Millions of American families are about to lose access to food assistance because Democrats are openly admitting to being afraid of their far-left base and refuse to reopen the government,” House Agriculture Committee Chair Glenn Thompson, R-Pa., told Fox News Digital.

Thompson’s panel has jurisdiction over SNAP in the House.

“We need to reopen the government, so we can put Americans first by making sure families can put food on the table and our farmers are supported,” he said.

Democrats could also be faced with the political quagmire of having previously railed against Republicans moving to expand SNAP work requirements in the OBBBA, to now be blamed by the right for federal food benefits drying up.

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The Trump administration does have some power to move existing funding around to help cover shortages during the shutdown. The White House moved research and development funding at the Pentagon to cover active duty military paychecks on Oct. 15 and reallocated some $300 million from tariff revenues for WIC earlier this month.

But any such fix would be temporary, as the two aforementioned adjustments have been.

When reached for comment about the administration’s SNAP warning, the top Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee told Fox News Digital that USDA needed to tap into the government’s emergency SNAP reserves.

“It’s time the administration do right by seniors, children and veterans and utilize the SNAP contingency fund to ensure benefits can be provided for November,” ranking member Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn., said.

The SNAP contingency fund currently has some $5 billion — not enough for an entire month’s worth of service.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., told reporters Thursday that he believed the White House would tap into that funding.

“As has been the case in prior government shutdowns, the money can be found by the administration if they chose to do so. In fact, there’s about $5 billion available in a contingency fund for emergency circumstances just like this,” Jeffries said. “But the administration refuses to agree to use it. Why? Because they want to starve the American people as part of their continuing effort to visit cruelty on everyday Americans.”

Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.

Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to elizabeth.elkind@fox.com

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That bill, proposed by Sens. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., and Todd Young, R-Ind., failed in a 54-45 vote, where 60 votes were needed to advance the bill over the threat of a filibuster.

Only three Democrats, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, and Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff of Georgia, voted with Republicans.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., turns to an aide during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, June 3, 2025.  (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

In addition to compensating federal employees and military personnel during the current shutdown, the bill would also extend relief to future instances where funding bills aren’t in effect.

“For fiscal year 2026, and any fiscal year thereafter, there are appropriated such sums as are necessary to provide standard rates of pay, allowances, pay differentials, benefits, and other payments on a regular basis to excepted employees,” the bill reads.

SENATE STALLS ON SHUTDOWN VOTE AMID WARNING FURLOUGHED WORKERS MAY LOSE PAY

Johnson had pitched his bill as a long-term solution.

“I just hope, on a nonpartisan basis, we do something that makes sense around here for once,” Johnson said ahead of the bill’s consideration.

“With Democrats continuing the Schumer Shutdown, they should at least agree to pay all the federal employees that are forced to continue working. The 2025Shutdown Fairness Actis a permanent fix that will ensure excepted workers and our troops are paid during a shutdown,”Johnson said.

Other Republicans blasted Democrats for voting against the bill.

“It means Democrats don’t care,” Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said. “We know this is going to end sometime. The question is when. I guess it will depend on how much carnage the Democrats want to create. To me, they are in a box canyon, and they can’t figure out how to get out.”

Essential federal employees have been asked to continue working since the government entered a shutdown on Oct. 1 after lawmakers failed to pass spending legislation to begin the 2026 fiscal year. Republicans have advanced a short-term spending extension that would open the government through Nov. 21. Democrats have repeatedly rejected that proposal though, demanding that Congress first consider an extension to expiring COVID-19-era supplemental funding for Obamacare health insurance subsidies.

Republicans, who maintain that the health insurance subsidies are unrelated to the government’s short-term funding needs, have rejected those demands out of hand.

Democrats in the Senate have voted 12 times to defeat the stopgap bill.

JOHNSON WARNS US ‘BARRELING TOWARD ONE OF THE LONGEST SHUTDOWNS’ IN HISTORY

Sen. Ron Johnson talks with reporters in the U.S. Capitol after the House passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act on May 22, 2025. (Tom Williams/Getty Images)

The shutdown looks poised to continue with no resolution in sight, prompting lawmakers to worry about key areas that are feeling the shutdown’s effects more acutely. The Johnson-Young supplemental package was the most recent attempt to provide a limited basis for relieving some of that pain.

Ahead of Thursday’s vote, Republicans in the House of Representatives appeared open to considering the Johnson-Young bill.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told House Republicans during a lawmaker-only call on Tuesday that his chamber would be “prepared to act” if the bill passed the Senate, Fox News Digital was told. Johnson has repeatedly said he would give lawmakers 48 hours’ notice to return to Washington before any votes but has largely signaled he will keep the House out of session until Senate Democrats pass the GOP’s funding bill.

Johnson also said on the call that he was skeptical the bill would get enough Senate Democratic support to pass.

“If they oppose the Ron Johnson bill in the Senate, it will be absolutely clear that they are simply using the military and air traffic control and law enforcement and all these other personnel as pawns for their political efforts,” Johnson said, Fox News Digital was told.

But other lawmakers had hesitations about partially reopening the government, offering relief to some workers and not others. That was the concern of Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., ahead of Thursday’s vote.

“I have a concern about picking and choosing among all the federal workers,” Blumenthal said.

“I’m fine to support it. I think we need to pay our military, but I want to define and limit it in a way that provides pay to essential workers who serve our public safety and our national defense,” Blumenthal said.

Blumenthal voted against the measure.

Democrats in the House of Representatives signaled similar lines of opposition to the idea behind the Johnson-Young bill.

HOUSE GOP BLOCKS DEMS’ MILITARY PAY BILL AS GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN THREATENS CHECKS

“It’s not legislation that I support, because it appears to be more like a political ploy to pick and choose, giving Donald Trump discretion [over] which employees should be compensated, and which employees should not be compensated. All employees should be compensated and that will happen when we reopen the government,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., told reporters on Monday.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., holds a press conference on the 14th day of the government shutdown on Capitol Hill in Washington, Oct. 14, 2025.  (Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters)

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Senate Democrats also defeated other pieces of legislation that would open portions of the government. Last week, Democrats in the Senate voted against a 2026 defense spending bill ­— one of the 12 year-long bills normally used to fund the government.

Aside from the Johnson-Young bill, the Senate will not consider other pieces of spending legislation on Thursday. Senators are scheduled to leave Washington, D.C., on Thursday and will return at the beginning of next week.

Leo Briceno is a politics reporter for the congressional team at Fox News Digital. He was previously a reporter with World Magazine.

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But the debate over how long to extend those levels is already dividing Republican lawmakers, making for a potentially messy fight on the horizon even before the current fiscal standoff ends.

Asked if Republicans would need to consider another extension of the most recent federal spending levels — which have been mostly unchanged since fiscal year (FY) 2024, the last year President Joe Biden was in office — House Appropriations Committee Chair Tom Cole, R-Okla., told Fox News Digital, “I think we’ll have to, having wasted this much time.”

It has been roughly a year and a half since Congress fulfilled its duty of passing a yearly federal budget, and decades since it has been done via 12 single-subject appropriations bills — a goal prized by Republican lawmakers.

BATTLEGROUND REPUBLICANS HOLD THE LINE AS JOHNSON PRESSURES DEMS ON SHUTDOWN

Senate Majority Leader John Thune holds a copy of a continuing resolution bill as he speaks alongside Speaker of the House Mike Johnson during a news conference in Statuary Hall at the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, Oct. 3, 2025. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

“What would it be, the third year of Biden’s last budget?” House Appropriations Committee member Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, quipped to reporters Wednesday.

GOP-controlled Washington had hoped to pass a conservative budget for FY 2026. To do that, Republicans are pushing an extension of current federal funding levels through Nov. 21, called a continuing resolution (CR), aimed at giving lawmakers more time to strike a longer-term deal.

But that bill has been stalled in the Senate since Sept. 19. Democrats are demanding any spending deal be paired with an extension of COVID-19 pandemic-era Obamacare subsidies set to expire at the end of this year, a request that has been rejected by Republican leaders.

“We put the date in there weeks ago when we passed a bill over a month ago out of the House, because that is what Republican and Democrat appropriators had agreed to,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., told Fox News Digital on Wednesday. “Well, Democrats have eaten up most of that time. And so we know at some point we’ll need a later date, and we don’t want it to be jammed up against a holiday.”

Two House GOP sources told Fox News Digital that multiple options have emerged, including another CR extending into January and a measure that could last the entire fiscal year until next Sept. 30.

House Appropriations Committee Chair Tom Cole said he would prefer another CR into January, so his committee can get its work done. (Getty Images)

Conservatives in the House Freedom Caucus and their allies are pushing for the latter option, believing it to be the best course to keep federal spending levels low. The alternative, a bipartisan deal, would need Democrat support in the Senate and consequently see spending levels rise.

“If we can have a long-term CR, so we have guaranteed funding at current levels when we’ve got Donald Trump and [Office of Management Budget Director] Russ Vought and the strong leadership over the executive branch using taxpayer funds wisely, then that’s a good position to be in,” House Freedom Caucus Policy Chair Chip Roy, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital.

A source close to the House Freedom Caucus told Fox News Digital that its chairman, Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., would even support a CR until December 2026, though with the caveat that he would need to see what the actual details were.

That would delay another shutdown fight until after the midterm elections. And the source said Harris believed it would keep threats off of essential workers and military pay for over a year.

58 HOUSE DEMS VOTE AGAINST RESOLUTION HONORING ‘LIFE AND LEGACY’ OF CHARLIE KIRK

But Cole said House appropriators would favor an extension into January.

“I think there’s actually, amongst the appropriators, a heightened sense of urgency because we don’t want a yearlong continuing resolution,” he said. “That’s not a good thing to happen … I talk to my Democratic counterparts, I know that’s not what they want to do.”

Meanwhile, in the upper chamber, where Senate Democrats rejected the Nov. 21 CR nearly a dozen times, Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., suggested a lengthy new measure could be inevitable.

Rep. Chip Roy sits next to Rep. Ralph Norman as he listens during a House Rules Committee meeting on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, May 21, 2025. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

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“Clearly now, with the clock having lost several weeks now on the CR, we’re getting farther and farther into the season where we’re going to have to at least do an extension, if not something on a much longer term basis, to fund the government,” Thune told reporters.

Other Republican senators signaled another extension was inevitable as well.

“I would like to see it extended into January, February. I think at the end of the day we spend less money [with a] CR. And again, that’s my bigger purpose here,” Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., said.

But Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., told reporters, “I’m fine with a year-long CR. I’m fine with it. I mean the original CR was to take us to Nov. 21 and that’s only a few weeks away. This shutdown could last until then.”

Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.

Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to elizabeth.elkind@fox.com

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Trump announced the donation on Thursday, but declined to reveal the donor’s identity, only describing him as a “patriot” and a friend. The president again refused to name the person on Friday while talking to reporters aboard Air Force One shortly after departing Washington for Asia, calling the donor “a great American citizen” and a “substantial man.”

“He doesn’t want publicity,” Trump said on Friday. “He prefer that his name not be mentioned, which is pretty unusual in the world I come from, and in the world of politics, you want your name mentioned.”

But the two people familiar with the matter told The New York Times that the man is Mellon, a wealthy banking heir and railroad magnate.

MYSTERY TRUMP ALLY DONATES $130M TO COVER TROOPS’ PAYCHECKS AMID SHUTDOWN CHAOS

The anonymous donor who gave $130 million to the Pentagon to pay troops during the government shutdown has been identified as Timothy Mellon. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

It remains unclear how long the donation will cover the troops’ salaries. The Trump administration’s 2025 budget asked for about $600 billion in total military compensation, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

The $130 million donation would equal about $100 a service member, according to The New York Times.

Mellon, a grandson of former Treasury Secretary Andrew W. Mellon, is a backer of Trump who gave tens of millions of dollars to groups supporting the president’s 2024 campaign. Last year, he gave $50 million to a super PAC supporting Trump, making it one of the largest single contributions ever disclosed, the newspaper noted.

President Donald Trump had declined to reveal the donor’s identity. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

The billionaire was not a prominent Republican donor until Trump was first elected but has given hundreds of millions of dollars in recent years into supporting the president and the GOP.

He is also a significant supporter of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who also ran for president in 2024, first as a Democrat and later as an independent before dropping out to endorse Trump. Mellon donated millions to Kennedy’s presidential campaign and has also given money to the secretary’s anti-vaccine nonprofit, Children’s Health Defense, according to The New York Times.

Despite his political contributions, Mellon has sought to keep a low profile.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION FREEZES $11 BILLION IN BLUE-STATE INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS, BLAMES DEMOCRATS FOR SHUTDOWN

The Pentagon said it accepted the donation under the “general gift acceptance authority.” (Reuters)

In an autobiography published in 2015, Mellon described himself as a former liberal who moved from Connecticut to Wyoming for lower taxes and fewer people.

The Pentagon said it accepted the donation under the “general gift acceptance authority.”

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“The donation was made on the condition that it be used to offset the cost of service members’ salaries and benefits,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement to The New York Times.

But the donation may be a potential violation of the Antideficiency Act, which prohibits federal agencies from spending money in excess of congressional appropriations or from accepting voluntary services.

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Among the few lawmakers breaking ranks was Democratic Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa, who voted with Republicans to reopen the government. Now, he’s urging his colleagues to do the same.

“It’s an easy, easy choice to pick my country over the party, especially in circumstances like this,” Fetterman said on “Saturday in America.”

On Thursday, the Senate failed in a 54-46 vote to advance a Republican bill to pay certain federal workers during the shutdown, falling short of the 60 votes needed to pass the measure. Only three Democrats, including Fetterman, voted with Republicans.

GOVERNMENT LIMPS DEEPER INTO SHUTDOWN CRISIS WITH NO DEAL IN SIGHT

Sen. John Fetterman at the U.S. Capitol during votes related to the government shutdown Oct. 16. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Democrats have refused to back any funding bill unless it includes an extension of enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies, which are set to expire in 2025. They argue that failing to act before open enrollment in November could drive up premiums for millions of Americans.

But Republicans say the government needs to reopen before they can negotiate.

“I do believe that there’s a critical mass of my fellow Democrats that are dug in until there’s an absolute ironclad kind of a deal,” Fetterman said, explaining his party’s position.

SHUTDOWN IGNITES STRATEGIST DEBATE: WILL TRUMP AND GOP PAY THE POLITICAL PRICE IN 2026?

But Fetterman said he believes Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., is an “honorable guy” and that talks on healthcare will move forward when the government is reopened.

“Let’s just open it up,” he said.

“Then we can have that conversation to see if we can extend those tax credit deals, because I do believe there are enough Republicans that would like to see that too.”

SENATE STALLS ON SHUTDOWN VOTE AMID WARNING FURLOUGHED WORKERS MAY LOSE PAY

The shutdown began Oct. 1, shuttering nonessential federal offices and delaying pay for hundreds of thousands of workers. As it entered its fourth week, many federal employees missed their first full paycheck.

The impact on the federal government’s nutrition program is a major issue for Fetterman and one reason he believes lawmakers need to set aside differences and focus on getting people fed.

He said that, amid the standoff, neither political side is winning the battle. Instead, the entire country is losing.

U.S. Sen. John Fetterman sits on the steps of the U.S. Capitol Oct. 1 in Washington, D.C. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

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“It’s like, ‘Are we winning? Are we losing?’” he said.

“Because I guarantee America is losing in this place right now.”

Video

Madison is a production assistant for Fox News Digital on the Flash team.

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“It’s appalling to see the number two House Democrat openly admit that the left is weaponizing hardworking Americans as ‘leverage’ for political gain, even acknowledging families will suffer in the process,” Republican Study Committee Chair August Pfluger, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital.

“This isn’t governance — it’s calculated hostage-taking, with struggling families caught in the balance as Democrats attempt to force through their radical agenda. Families are seen only as leverage by Democrats. We always knew it, now they’re saying it out loud. Absolutely shameful.”

House Minority Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass., sat down for an interview with Fox News’ Chad Pergram last week. At one point, Clark was asked about who Americans would find responsible for the ongoing shutdown.

BATTLEGROUND REPUBLICANS HOLD THE LINE AS JOHNSON PRESSURES DEMS ON SHUTDOWN

Republican Study Committee Chairman August Pfluger criticizes House Minority Whip Katherine Clark’s comments on the government shutdown. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images; Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“I mean,shutdowns are terrible and, of course, there will be, you know, families that are going to suffer. We take that responsibility very seriously. But it is one of the few leverage times we have,” Clark responded.

“It is an inflection point in this budget process where we have tried to get the Republicans to meet with us and prioritize the American people, and it’s been an absolute refusal, and they were willing to let government shut down when they control the House, the Senate and the White House rather than come and talk about an issue as important to the American people is if they can afford healthcare.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Clark’s office for a response to Pfluger’s comments.

The government is shut down after Congress failed to reach an agreement on federal funding. (Getty Images)

The government shutdown is now in its 23rd day after Senate Democrats rejected the GOP’s federal funding bill for a 12th time on Wednesday evening.

Republicans proposed a measure that would keep federal funding roughly flat until Nov. 21, a spending patch called a continuing resolution (CR), so that negotiators would have more time to strike a longer-term deal on fiscal year (FY) 2026.

The bill passed the House largely along partisan lines on Sept. 19.

But Democrats have been pushing for any funding deal to include an extension of Obamacare subsidies that were enhanced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Those enhancements are set to expire at the end of 2025.

Republican leaders have signaled a willingness to negotiate on those subsidies, but have ruled out doing so in the current package.

SCREAMING MATCH ERUPTS BETWEEN HAKEEM JEFFRIES, MIKE LAWLER AS GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN CHAOS CONTINUES

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol on the 10th day of the federal government shutdown in Washington, Oct. 10, 2025. (Alex Wroblewski/AFP via Getty Images)

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“Mike Johnson said, we have an eternity to talk about this, an eternity. This impact of the ACA is in the next few weeks,” Clark said. “Yes, there are repercussions to a shutdown that are terrible for people.”

She continued, “I feel for military families that even if they get paid, you know, there are lots of spouses that also work that are feeling these cuts because we’ve encouraged military spouses to become federal workers to accommodate all the travel and moving that military families so frequently experience. And now we’re saying to them, ‘You’re not going to be paid for your work.’ I mean, let’s get it together here. The Republicans need to come to town. They need to sit down with us.”

Republicans have seized on Clark’s comments in recent days, however.

House GOP Chairwoman Lisa McClain, R-Mich., said in a statement on Wednesday, “Democrats are holding American families hostage to advance their political agenda, and they’re admitting it.”

Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.

Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to elizabeth.elkind@fox.com

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“You don’t know nothing” – Baseball Legend Yogi Berra

Socrates may have been claiming ignorance, Berra was talking about baseball, but both may as well have been talking about the government shutdown.

So when will it end?

“You shouldn’t ask me because I’m the guy who said it’ll only last five days,” Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., said on Fox. “But I will tell you, a couple of Democrat senators recently indicated that they think this is going to go ‘til at least the first of November.”

However, Biggs added that he doesn’t “see an end in sight.”

GOVERNMENT ENTERS LONGEST FULL SHUTDOWN IN US HISTORY WITH NO END IN SIGHT

The government shutdown is now entering its fourth week. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Whether you are Socrates or Yogi Berra, we don’t know “nothing.” Which technically means that we do know something.

However, I do know proper grammar.

The one thing that I do know in this case is that I don’t know anything about ending the government shutdown.

REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN STALLS AS DEMOCRATS DEMAND OBAMACARE SUBSIDY EXTENSION

Regardless… Is it even possible to game out when the government shutdown may end?

Congressional Republicans believed that Democrats would fold after a matter of days once funding lapsed in the wee hours of Oct. 1. Then Republicans argued that Democrats would cry “uncle” once federal workers missed their first paycheck last week. Later, the GOP suggested Democrats would keep the government shuttered through the “No Kings” rallies around the country last weekend.

The GOP argued that Democrats needed to show their base that they were “fighting” against President Donald Trump.

“Now that they had their protests, I just pray that they come to their senses and re-open the government this week,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.

Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., says he doesn’t “see an end in sight.”  (Getty Images)

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., accused Republicans of continually changing their reasons for why Democrats are blocking the GOP bill to fund the government.

“In a few days, it will be about something else,” Jeffries said.

So, we enter the ice age of Congressional inactivity as the government shutdown enters its fourth week.

Who could have predicted it?

Then again, who could have predicted thieves could make off with millions of dollars of jewelry inside the Louvre in an historic heist? At least the bandits stole our attention away from the government shutdown for a bit.

SHUTDOWN STANDSTILL: NO HEADWAY UNTIL THERE’S ‘INCENTIVE,’ POLITICOS LAMENT

That said, everyone knows (even if they won’t say it publicly) who will likely end the government shutdown: Trump.

He’s not just the president. Trump has a sway over Republicans in Congress that Ronald Reagan could only envy. So until he joins the fray, the government will remain closed.

“Donald Trump definitively needs to get involved. He needs to get off the sidelines. Get off the golf course and actually decide to end the shutdown that he’s created and that he has allowed to happen,” Jeffries said.

“Donald Trump, instead of leaving the country before he leaves the country, should sit down and negotiate with us so we can address this horrible crisis,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. “The president should meet with us. It’s not me, him or anything political. It’s that the people are in crisis every day.”

President Trump met with Republican lawmakers this week. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

The president did meet with lawmakers this week, holding court with Senate Republicans for lunch in the renovated Rose Garden.

“Did you notice the white marble floor?” quipped the president.

But Democrats contend that Trump huddled with the wrong party. Schumer characterized it as “a Rose Garden pep rally.”

Trump implored Democrats to bend – and vote for the GOP spending bill.

“They’re getting killed in the polls,” he said.

SCREAMING MATCH ERUPTS BETWEEN HAKEEM JEFFRIES, MIKE LAWLER AS GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN CHAOS CONTINUES

“Shouldn’t the president get involved in negotiations at this stage to end this?” yours truly asked Johnson.

“We’re not going [to] pay a ransom to reopen the federal government,” replied the speaker.

“Isn’t the only key to end this shutdown to just have a sit-down negotiation with both sides?” I countered.

“Republicans have nothing to offer to Democrats,” replied Johnson.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., meanwhile, contends that “Republicans have nothing to offer Democrats.” (J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo)

In fact, some Republicans argued that Trump shouldn’t even negotiate.

“If I’ve learned anything about President Trump, it’s his timing. I think that he feels like the timing is not right now. We’re winning the messaging war,” said Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan. “So there’ll be a time. But the time is not ripe yet.”

It’s unclear when that time may come, considering that the government has remained shuttered for more than three weeks.

And two weeks ago, Republicans torched Schumer for declaring things got “better” for Democrats the longer the shutdown dragged on, but shutdown fatigue is now setting in on Capitol Hill.

BATTLEGROUND REPUBLICANS HOLD THE LINE AS JOHNSON PRESSURES DEMS ON SHUTDOWN

“Welcome to day 22 of the Democrats’ shutdown,” Johnson declared at the now sonorous daily press briefings delivered by both sides.

“This does suck,” said Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., on Fox Business about the shutdown.

Lawmakers are now seeking shutdown daylight.

“The hope is that we get this shutdown resolved before the end of the month,” Jeffries said.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., expresses hope that the shutdown will be resolved by the end of the month. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

There’s worry about how the shutdown might impact national parks.

“(Here are) the more negative consequences that we’ll start to see without regular staffing. Litter will pile up and park ecosystems will be affected,” said House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Bruce Westerman, R-Ark.

Both parties are convinced they’re prevailing in the shutdown.

“What I did hear on our telephone town hall repeatedly (is) ‘Don’t you guys give into these hostage takers,’” said Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho. “I heard that repeatedly.”

“It’s resonating with Americans. What I’m hearing from people in Connecticut is ‘hang tough,’” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.

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The Senate holds a test vote Thursday on a bill to pay essential workers who are on the job without a paycheck, but Democrats are skeptical.

“I’d be in favor of paying the federal workers,” said Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt. “That bill, unfortunately, gives a lot of latitude to the president to pick and choose, or, I should say, (White House Budget Director) Russell Vought to pick and choose (who gets paid).”

So while shutdown weariness sets in, no one knows when it might end.

It is said that knowing what you don’t know actually constitutes true knowledge.

And if no one knows the end of the shutdown, that must mean that everyone is pretty smart.

Chad Pergram currently serves as a senior congressional correspondent for FOX News Channel (FNC). He joined the network in September 2007 and is based out of Washington, D.C.

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“Our air traffic controllers and the broader air traffic system are already operating under immense pressure — a government shutdown only compounds that stress andthreatens the efficiency of our skies as we see the impact of reduced controller availability at facilities across the country,” Jody Reven, president of the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, wrote in a statement Wednesday.

“Likewise, TSA professionals continue to show up every day to safeguard the traveling public, even without pay. These men and women deserve our full support and the certainty of a paycheck.”

The government shutdown has persisted since Oct. 1, when Senate lawmakers failed to reach a funding agreement before a midnight deadline. The Trump administration and Republicans have since pinned blame for the shutdown on Democrats, claiming they sought taxpayer-funded medical benefits for illegal immigrants.

NOEM AIRS CLIP BLASTING DEMOCRATS FOR GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN AT EVERY AIRPORT IN AMERICA

Pilots associations are calling on U.S. lawmakers to reach a funding agreement to reopen the government as holiday travel looms.  (Joseph Prezioso/AFP/Getty Images)

Democrats, however, have denied the claims and pinned blame for the shutdown on their Republican colleagues.

The shutdown has led to delays at massive travel hubs such as Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas and Newark, New Jersey, as air traffic controllers, who are employed by the Federal Aviation Administration, cope with staffing shortages.

Reven released his statement as travelers gear up for holiday flights for Thanksgiving and Christmas. And a White House official told Fox News Digital that as the shutdown continues, it “threatens to ruin the holidays.” The 2025 holiday season is expected to break travel records as Americans book trips at a higher pace than 2024, travel forecasters reported in October.

“There is no reason the Democrat shutdown should have ever happened, let alone last this long,” the official said. “But the longer it goes on, the more it threatens to ruin the holidays, not only for the Americans missing paychecks but also for every American that travels during the holidays.”

The Southwest Airlines Pilots Association’s press release specifically called on lawmakers to pass a budget because the nation’s entire National Airspace System depends on it.

TRUMP’S WEEK IN REVIEW: SHUTDOWN SHOWDOWNS AND ARMED CARTEL CONFLICT

President Donald Trump said the government shutdown that took effect Oct. 1, 2025, will likely include mass layoffs and program cuts.  (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

“Pass a clean Continuing Resolution, return to Washington, and work in a bipartisan manner to address the challenges each side is so passionate about,” it stated. “Our National Airspace System, the workers that support it, and the traveling public depend on it.”

When approached for comment on the statement, White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers demanded Democrats “stop causing chaos.”

“Democrats say that every day of the shutdown gets better and that they want to use suffering families as leverage to achieve their radical left-wing agenda, but the people they’re using as ‘leverage’ disagree,” Rogers said. “From pilots to flight attendants and air traffic controllers, their message is simple: The Democrats need to stop causing chaos and end the shutdown.”

The Air Line Pilots Association, the world’s largest airline pilot union, also called on lawmakers to reopen the government earlier in October.

“The job of keeping aviation safe and secure is tough on an easy day, but forcing them to do it without pay undermines the safety and security of our entire system,” Jason Ambrosi, president of the Air Line Pilots Association, said in a statement Oct. 15. “We are at a critical moment in aviation safety, and we need our leaders to be focused on the necessary infrastructure and staffing improvements.”

WITH THE GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN THREATENING AIR TRAVEL, A GOP BILL SEEKS TO KEEP FLIGHTS RUNNING

President Donald Trump accused Senate Democrats of “holding the entire federal government hostage.” (Getty Images)

President Donald Trump accused Senate Democrats of “holding the entire federal government hostage” Tuesday while demanding the government reopen by passing a “clean, bipartisan CR.”

“They are the obstructionists,” he said. “And the reason they’re doing it is because we’re doing so well. We’re doing well all over the world.”

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Tuesday that he and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., reached out to Trump to request a meeting to negotiate an end to the shutdown.

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“Hakeem and I reached out to the president today and urged him to sit down and negotiate with us to resolve the healthcare crisis, address it and end the Trump shutdown,” Schumer said. “He should sit — the things get worse every day for the American people. He should sit down with us, negotiate in a serious way before he goes away.”

Fox News Digital’s Alex Miller contributed to this report.

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