Troops get paid, and Trump plans program closures as congressional leaders maintain their positions.
The federal government shutdown enters a third week as the Senate again failed to pass a continuing resolution to provide a temporary extension of funding, which expired on Sept. 30.
Democrats refuse to authorize additional funding until Republicans negotiate over their health care proposals.
Republicans say any negotiations should take place through the regular appropriations process, which can be completed once the government reopens.
Here’s the latest on the state of the shutdown.
Troops Get Paid
Some 1.3 million active-duty service members received a paycheck on Oct. 15 after Trump ordered that certain unspent federal funds be used to issue one-time pay.
That may be the last paycheck that they receive until the shutdown ends, according to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.).
Johnson said the administration would arrange pay for Capitol police as well, if a similar mechanism can be found.
Americans Feel Pain
Approximately 400,000 federal employees have been furloughed. Those workers received a partial paycheck on Oct. 14 but may not be paid again until the shutdown ends.
“We saw service members waiting hours in lines wrapped around the block at Georgia food pantries,” Johnson said on Oct. 15.
Noting that air traffic controllers, TSA agents, and border patrol officials are working without pay, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said, “Every day that this goes on, the problems are compounded for federal workers and for ordinary Americans.”
Democrats make a similar point on the potential impact of the year-end expiration of the Affordable Care Act’s enhanced subsidies. Democrats have proposed that those COVID-era subsidies be made permanent.
“Families are getting letters with their new health insurance rates,” Sen. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on Oct. 15, indicating a letter received by a constituent showing that an insurance premium for a New York resident would increase by nearly $1,400 per month.
“Tens of millions of Americans are going to get these notices,” Schumer said.
