Government shutdown could become longest ever as Trump says he 'won't be
extorted' by Democrats
[November 03, 2025]
By MARY CLARE JALONICK
WASHINGTON (AP) — The government shutdown is poised to become the
longest ever this week as the impasse between Democrats and Republicans
has dragged into a new month. Millions of people could lose food aid
benefits, health care subsidies are set to expire and there are few real
talks between the parties over how to end it.
President Donald Trump said in an interview aired on Sunday that he
“won't be extorted” by Democrats who are demanding negotiations to
extend the Affordable Care Act subsidies that expire at the end of the
year for millions of Americans. Echoing congressional Republicans, the
president said on CBS's “60 Minutes” that he will only negotiate when
the government is reopened.
Trump’s comments signal that the shutdown could continue to drag on for
some time as federal workers, including air traffic controllers, are set
to miss additional paychecks and there is uncertainty over whether 42
million Americans who receive federal food aid will be able to access
the assistance. Senate Democrats have now voted 13 times against
reopening the government, insisting that they need Trump and Republicans
to negotiate with them first.
The president said that Democrats “have lost their way" and predicted
that they will eventually capitulate to Republicans.
“I think they have to,” Trump said. “And if they don't vote, it's their
problem.”
He also reiterated his pleas to Republican leaders to change Senate
rules and scrap the filibuster. Senate Republicans have repeatedly
rejected that idea since Trump's first term, arguing that the rule
requiring 60 votes to overcome any objections in the Senate is vital to
the institution and has allowed them to stop Democratic policies when
they are in the minority.
“Republicans have to get tougher,” Trump said in the CBS interview. “If
we end the filibuster, we can do exactly what we want.”
With the two parties at a standstill, the shutdown, now in its 33rd day
and approaching its sixth week, appears likely to become the longest in
history. The previous record was set in 2019, when Trump demanded that
Congress give him money for a U.S.-Mexico border wall.
A potentially decisive week
Trump’s push on the filibuster could prove a distraction for Senate
Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and Republican senators who have
opted instead to stay the course as the consequences of the shutdown
have become more acute.
Republicans are hoping that at least some Democrats will eventually give
them the votes they need as moderates have been in weekslong talks with
rank-and-file Republicans about potential compromises that could
guarantee votes on health care in exchange for reopening the government.
Republicans need five additional Democrats to pass their bill.
“We need five with a backbone to say we care more about the lives of the
American people than about gaining some political leverage,” Thune said
on the Senate floor as the Senate left Washington for the weekend on
Thursday.
Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, a Democrat, said on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday
that there is a group of people talking about ”a path to fix the health
care debacle” and a commitment from Republicans not to fire more federal
workers. But it’s still unclear if those talks could produce a
meaningful compromise.
Far apart on Obamacare subsidies
Trump said in the “60 Minutes” interview that the Affordable Care Act —
often known as Obamacare because it was signed and championed by former
President Barack Obama — is "terrible" and that if the Democrats vote to
reopen the government, “we will work on fixing the bad health care that
we have right now.”
Democrats feel differently, arguing that the marketplaces set up by the
ACA are working as record numbers of Americans have signed up for the
coverage. But they want to extend subsidies first enacted during the
COVID-19 pandemic so that premiums won't go up for millions of people on
Jan. 1.
“We want to sit down with Thune, with (House Speaker Mike) Johnson, with
Trump, and negotiate a way to address this horrible health care crisis,”
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said last week.
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Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., the Senate GOP whip, left, and Speaker
of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., arrive for a news conference with
top Republicans on the government shutdown, at the Capitol in
Washington, Oct. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
No appetite for bipartisanship
As Democrats have pushed Trump and Republicans to negotiate, Trump has
showed little interest in doing so. He immediately called for an end to
the Senate filibuster after a trip to Asia while the government was shut
down.
White House Spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said on “Sunday Morning
Futures” on Fox News that the president has spoken directly to both
Thune and Johnson about the filibuster. But a spokesman for Thune said
Friday that his position hasn’t changed, and Johnson said on Sunday that
Republicans traditionally have resisted calling for an end to the
filibuster because it protects them from “the worst impulses of the
far-left Democrat Party.”
Trump said on “60 Minutes” that “I like John Thune, I think he's
terrific. But I disagree with him on this point.”
The president has spent much of the shutdown mocking Democrats, posting
videos of House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries in a Mexican sombrero.
The White House website has a satirical “My Space” page for Democrats, a
parody based on the social media site that was popular in the early
2000s. “We just love playing politics with people’s livelihoods,” the
page reads.
Democrats have repeatedly said that they need Trump to get serious and
weigh in. Virginia Sen. Mark Warner said that he hopes the shutdown
could end “this week” because Trump is back in Washington.
Republicans “can’t move on anything without a Trump sign off,” Warner
said on “Face the Nation” on CBS.
Record-breaking shutdown
The 35-day shutdown that lasted from December 2018 to January 2019 ended
when Trump retreated from his demands over a border wall. That came amid
intensifying delays at the nation’s airports and multiple missed paydays
for hundreds of thousands of federal workers.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on ABC's “This Week” that there
have already been delays at several airports “and it’s only going to get
worse.”
Many of the workers are “confronted with a decision,” he said. “Do I put
food on my kids’ table, do I put gas in the car, do I pay my rent or do
I go to work and not get paid?"
As flight delays around the country increased, New York City's emergency
management department posted on Sunday that Newark Airport was under a
ground delay because of “staffing shortages in the control tower" and
that they were limiting arrivals to the airport.
“The average delay is about 2 hours, and some flights are more than 3
hours late,” the account posted. “FAA planning notes show a possibility
of a full ground stop later if staffing shortages or demand increases.”
SNAP crisis
Also in the crossfire are the 42 million Americans who receive SNAP
benefits. The Department of Agriculture planned to withhold $8 billion
needed for payments to the food program starting on Saturday until two
federal judges ordered the administration to fund it.
House Democratic leader Jeffries, D-N.Y., accused Trump and Republicans
of attempting to “weaponize hunger.” He said that the administration has
managed to find ways for funding other priorities during the shutdown,
but is slow-walking pushing out SNAP benefits despite the court orders.
“But somehow they can’t find money to make sure that Americans don’t go
hungry,” Jeffries said in an appearance on CNN's “State of the Union.”
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, in his own CNN appearance Sunday, said
the administration continues to await direction from the courts.
“The best way for SNAP benefits to get paid is for Democrats — for five
Democrats to cross the aisle and reopen the government,” Bessent said.
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Associated Press writer Aamer Madhani contributed to this report.
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