The pain of the 30-day government shutdown is expected to intensify in the coming days, but Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and the vast majority of his Democratic caucus have so far refused to fund the government until their demands are met.
More than 40 million Americans will not receive federal food aid on November 1 without action from Congress due to lack of funding. Americans' food stamps are about to expire, and nutrition and breastfeeding are about to become popular. program As for low-income women running out of money this weekend, some Republicans are optimistic that Democrats are close to giving up due to growing public pressure. (RELATED: Dem-aligned Federal Workers Union Calls for End to Shutdown)
“The first 26, 27 days [of the shutdown]”The Democrats got away with this nonsense because most people in this country didn't notice because they weren't affected by it,” Majority Whip Tom Emmer, the third-ranking House Republican, told the Daily Caller News Foundation on Wednesday. “Everything changes this week.”
Some Democrats acknowledge the pain of the shutdown is growing worse for their constituents as the funding gap reaches the one-month mark. Republicans need to convince five more Senate Democrats to vote for a bipartisan House-passed spending bill to end the shutdown.
“It’s more frustrating every day that we can’t solve this problem,” Colorado Democratic Sen. John Hickenlooper told DCNF on Tuesday. “People are suffering. It's getting a little worse every week.”
Hickenlooper has consistently voted with Schumer to shut down the government until Republicans agree to their various health policy demands. Colorado Democrat voted opposed a bipartisan clean stopgap bill to reopen the government for the 13th time on Tuesday.
WASHINGTON, DC – June 17: U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper (D-Colorado) speaks during a hearing of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation at the U.S. Capitol on June 17, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)
Hundreds of thousands of federal employees—from Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents to Capitol Police officers—have not received pay during the shutdown. The extended funding gap also disrupted the processing of small business loans, access to national parks and air travel across the country.
Federal Aviation Administration published made a 75-minute stopover at Newark Liberty International Airport, a major northeast hub, on Wednesday, citing staffing issues due to the government shutdown.
New Jersey Democratic Sen. Andy Kim told DCNF he wants to prevent air traffic controllers from becoming “collateral damage” as a result of the shutdown, even though he voted against a bipartisan funding measure to pay them on 13 separate occasions.
Amid the growing fallout from the lockdown, one Democratic lawmaker appears to be toughening up demands for the government to reopen.
Nevada Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen, who has so far followed Schumer's hardline tactics in fighting for government funding, said the shutdown would end if Democrats vote to extend expanded Obamacare subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year and Thune forms a health care-focused “task force” to address rising health care costs.
“Let us vote on the ACA tax breaks,” Rosen told DCNF in a brief interview Wednesday. “They can say people don't want to renew or don't, they're letting them fall off a cliff. People can vote where they want. Let us vote on this issue. And then put together a task force. Give us some criteria and some ways we can treat people with dignity so they have the dignity of a health insurance policy and can go get their prescriptions.”
Democrats' costly government-funding counterproposal also included $1 trillion in new Medicaid spending, reversing previous cuts to foreign aid and public broadcasting, and restrictive language limiting the president's spending powers.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, in particular, suggested a few weeks ago that Democrats could vote on expiring subsidies as long as they funded the government first.
Other Democrats on the party's far left have signaled their desire to maintain the government shutdown into November.
“If Democrats bend the knee to Donald Trump, what guarantee will anyone have that Americans will get the food they need, the health care they need, and the education they need,” Elizabeth Warren of the Massachusetts Democratic Party told DCNF. “The answer is none.”
Republicans are betting that Americans whose lives will be affected by the shutdown will thwart those plans.
“People across the country are tired,” Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott told DCNF.
“We just need to keep the pressure on Democrats,” said Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley. “They themselves admit that this is the only way to gain leverage. You won't hurt people with your leverage.”
Kayden Olson contributed to this report.
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