WASHINGTON — With less than 12 hours left before the new federal fiscal year begins at 12:01 am on Oct.1, the government’s lights are on but flickering as Democrats and Republicans remain at an impasse as a shutdown approaches.
“We are in this fight, until we win this fight,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said in a joint news conference on Tuesday morning. “We are fighting to lower the cost of living and to protect the health care of everyday Americans.”
Democratic leaders are demanding a reversal of $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts in the Big Beautiful Bill and extending tax credits for the Affordable Care Act — or Obamacare. Republicans are seeking a “clean” Continuing Resolution (CR) bill that would temporarily fund the government until Nov. 21.
There have been a total of 20 government shutdowns. The last shutdown was the longest, continuing for more than 30 days from December 2018 to January 2019 under President Donald Trump’s first administration.
If the Obamacare tax credits expire, millions of Americans will see their premiums increase, and health care providers could face a loss of $32.1 billion in revenue by 2026, according to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
In the case of a government shutdown, hundreds of thousands of federal workers would be furloughed. The White House is recommending that federal agencies consider a “Reduction in Force” during a potential shutdown, according to a memo from the Office of Management and Budget.
On Monday afternoon, President Trump, along with Republican and Democratic leaders, failed to strike an agreement in a last-ditch meeting, leaving the Senate to vote again on the Stopgap bill on Tuesday, which was passed by the House earlier this month. Vice President J.D. Vance told the press after the meeting that Democrats “won’t do the right thing.”
“You don’t use your policy disagreements as leverage not to pay our troops, not to have essential first services of government actually function,” Vance said. “You don’t say the fact that you disagree about a particular tax provision is an excuse for shutting down the people’s government.”
Trump posted a 34-second deepfake AI-generated video online on Monday evening, mocking Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) with racially insensitive imagery, hours after meeting with them. Jeffries condemned the video, calling it “racist” on Tuesday morning.
“Mr. President, the next time you have something to say about me, don’t cop out through a racist and fake AI video,” Jeffries said to the press almost 14 hours before the government shutdown. “When I’m back in the Oval Office, say it to my face.”
Sen. Schumer responded to the video, tweeting, “If you think your shutdown is a joke, it just proves what we all know: You can’t negotiate. You can only throw tantrums.” In addition to this, Schumer also tweeted “No AI necessary,” with an interview snippet of Trump from 2011 on Tuesday morning.
“If there is a shutdown, I think it would be a tremendously negative mark on the United States,” Trump said in the video. “He’s the one who has to get people together.”
The Senate plans to vote on the Stopgap bill on Tuesday, starting 5 p.m. As of midday Tuesday, no meeting was scheduled between Democratic and Republican leaders to strike a deal.
