The U.S. federal government 'shutdown' entered its third week on October 14 (local time). This marks the fifth-longest shutdown in U.S. history. As the Republican and Democratic parties remain locked in a standoff without yielding any ground, the temporary budget bill was rejected in the Senate for the eighth time.
On this day, the U.S. Senate convened a plenary session and put the Republican short-term spending bill (continuing resolution, or CR) to a vote, but it was rejected with 49 votes in favor and 45 against.
John Thune, the Senate Republican Whip, is heading to vote on the temporary budget bill on the 14th (local time). Photo by Reuters Yonhap News
As the bill failed to reach the 60 votes required to break a filibuster, all eight votes on the matter have ended in rejection.
The Democratic Party is opposing the passage of the temporary budget bill, insisting on the extension of subsidies for the Affordable Care Act (ACA), among other demands. In contrast, the Republican Party maintains that the temporary budget bill should be passed first to resume normal government operations, with separate negotiations to follow.
This difference in positions between the two parties has shown no signs of narrowing, either before or after the shutdown began, and there is no indication of progress.
The White House has announced plans to lay off more than 4,100 federal employees from departments that have been deprioritized under President Donald Trump's policy agenda as a result of the shutdown.
President Trump told reporters at the White House that the shutdown is being used as an opportunity to close down government programs with strong Democratic influence, stating, "The Democrats are getting killed right now."
He added, "What we are shutting down now are programs we have long wanted to eliminate or Democratic programs that we wished had never existed. Now we are shutting them down, and we will never allow them to return."
President Trump announced that he would release a list of the 'Democratic programs' being shut down by the federal government on October 17.
Targeting Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, who is blocking the Republican temporary budget bill, Trump criticized, "He has allowed the radical left to take over the party," and called him a "failed politician."
Mike Johnson, the Republican Speaker of the House, is continuing to pressure the Democrats by not convening the House this week. He reiterated on this day that he has no intention of negotiating with the Democrats on their demands.
Senate Majority Leader Schumer criticized on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), "Trump's policies are severely undermining rural health care services," and added, "The Republican Party has not only failed to resolve the health care crisis they created, but has also shut down the government."
He also condemned the White House's plan to lay off federal employees, stating, "Trump and Russell Vought (Director of the Office of Management and Budget) are using the American people as scapegoats for the shutdown."
Meanwhile, as Congress has failed to pass a temporary budget bill, the federal government continues to face a funding shortfall. Previously, the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) nutrition assistance program decided to continue operations by reallocating $300 million in tariff revenue. More than one million U.S. military personnel face the risk of not receiving their paychecks on October 15, but President Trump has instructed the Department of Defense (the War Department) to ensure that military personnel are paid as usual. However, hundreds of thousands of federal employees have already missed some paychecks, and many government contract workers are also not being paid during the shutdown.
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