(UBS)
The House remained out of session, while the Senate held votes on the House-passed bill to extend government funding through 21 November as well as alternative measures to pay federal workers and to fund the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Republicans generally opposed the piecemeal measures, while Democrats continued to oppose the House bill because it does not provide an extension of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies that expire at the end of the year. While Republican and Democratic leadership are still at loggerheads (and President Trump was out of the country), there is growing interest among rank-and-file members in finding a resolution. One possibility being discussed is a short-term extension into January with a one- or two-year extension of the ACA subsidies. Members are hearing from constituents who are seeing significant increases to healthcare costs as part of the expiration of the ACA subsidies and who are concerned about the expiration tomorrow of SNAP, which provides food assistance to 42 million people. While the Trump administration was able to find funds to pay military service members this week, millions of federal civilian employees are without paychecks. Many lawmakers are concerned about the impact on air travel with Thanksgiving holiday travel looming. The pressure is growing for lawmakers to take action, but it remains unlikely a solution will happen next week.
A Faint Lifeline.
Congress needs to pass 12 government funding bills covering various federal agencies for fiscal year 2026 if they want to properly fund the government. So far this year, both the Senate and the House have passed competing versions of three of these funding bills. In connection with the bipartisan talks on ending the shutdown, there are talks on addressing the remaining funding bills. One plan would be to pass a package of three or four funding bills as a show of good faith for ending the shutdown. An alternative would be to have the Senate first come to agreement on a government funding extension with the intent of quickly passing two separate packages of the remaining funding bills. Another alternative would be to include one of those packages on the short-term extension. However, many hurdles remain (not the least of which is how to handle the expiration of the ACA subsidies as part of reopening the government). There are also differences on funding levels for certain agencies. The House will need to pass any Senate packages, which will not be an easy task for Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA). Nevertheless, the bipartisan discussions this week on government funding show that there is some urgency in the Senate on getting out of this shutdown.
AFGE Weighs In.
The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the nation’s largest federal workers union with over 800,000 federal employees, is demanding Congress pass a clean continuing resolution and restore funding immediately. In a rare rebuke of both parties, the AFGE President condemned the impasse as an “avoidable crisis,” citing unpaid workers, looming layoffs and families turning to food banks after missing multiple paychecks. The union has filed lawsuits against the Trump administration and warned that the shutdown’s impact is deepening by the day. Bipartisan Senate negotiations over back pay and protections for essential workers are ongoing, but no deal has emerged. The union stopped short of directly criticizing Democrats, but there are alarm bells ringing given that the union has been a big supporter of the party. AFGE’s demands won’t force a resolution, but they do add to the pressure.
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