CHICAGO (WGN) — For the first time in more than six years, the federal government is partially shut down, as Congress failed to reach an agreement overnight.
A spending dispute between President Donald Trump and Congressional Democrats has shut down the government. The House passed a measure to keep the government open at current spending levels until November 21, but the legislation failed to pass the Senate, with Democrats demanding provisions concerning healthcare.
Day 1 of the shutdown begins with both sides dug in, as spending cuts and furloughs are expected to take effect.
Approximately 750,000 federal employees are expected to be furloughed, while critical child nutrition programs, support for veterans, and CDC health-related communications could be suspended.
Republicans blame Democrats for the shutdown.
“They have taken the American people hostage in a way that they think benefits them politically,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune.
“They prioritized taxpayer-funded benefits for illegal aliens over keeping the government open for American citizens,” added Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson.
Republicans want to maintain current spending levels, while Democrats advocate for an extension of expiring Obamacare subsidies.
“The average family is going to see their premiums for their health insurance increase and they’re going to get those letters in the next 10 days from the insurance companies by as much as 300 percent,” said Illinois State Senator Tammy Duckworth.
“Republicans have always tried to stick us with a partisan CR that fails to protect Americans’ health care and does nothing to fix the health care mess that they’ve created,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer added.
Republicans say they’ll negotiate over health care only through the regular spending process.
“They always said that shutting the government down would be dangerous, destructive, selfish, and irresponsible and suddenly, now they’ve changed their tune,” Johnson said. “Don’t buy it. The American people are not buying it.”
Democrats say there’s no time to wait to take up health care.
“Insurance companies are setting their premiums now, 1 October,” Duckworth said. “This is the date that they start setting their premiums.”
During the shutdown, critical services like the Post Office will continue to operate, and Social Security and Medicare payments will still be sent out. However, U.S. service members are at risk of not receiving their pay.
Both sides claim they’re ready for a long fight, but President Trump may have added a pressure point, threatening mass layoffs. Vice President JD Vance also commented.
“If this thing continues to drag on for another few days, or God-forbid another few weeks, we’re going to have to lay people off,” Vance said.
Vance also accused Democrats of wanting to restore federal funding for emergency room visits for undocumented immigrants. But Democrats say that’s not what this negotiation is about, and under the law, undocumented immigrants are not eligible for Obamacare, Medicare, or Medicaid.
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