The government shutdown has broken the record for the longest in U.S. history at 36 days, while federal workers go without pay, millions of Americans go without food stamps, and the holiday season approaches.
The record was broken just days after the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program lapsed for the first time. The previous record of 35 days was a partial shutdown in 2019 during President Donald Trump’s first term, meaning the current one had already claimed the record for the longest full shutdown. The third longest shutdown was 21 days under former President Bill Clinton in 1995.
“It was a 35-day government shutdown during the first Trump administration,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told the Washington Examiner. “This is day 35 of the Trump Republican shutdown. Donald Trump and Republicans can not govern; these people are deeply unqualified.”
Every day has been Groundhog Day on Capitol Hill since the shutdown began on Oct. 1, with leaders of both parties holding their own respective press conferences in efforts to cast the blame on the other party.
Along with the daily press conferences, Capitol Hill staffers and U.S. Capitol Police are among those not paid during a shutdown, leaving security lines backed up and food options limited.
“I’ll be honest with you, I don’t think any of us expected that it would drag out this long.” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said at a press conference Tuesday. “It’s now tied for the longest shutdown in U.S. history.”
Democrats have continuously pushed back on the GOP claim that this is a “Democrat shutdown,” while they aim to strike a deal that meets their demands on healthcare following the cuts made to Medicaid in the reconciliation bill. Democrats have been fighting for an extension of the Affordable Care Act tax credits, which are set to expire at the end of this year, arguing that millions of Americans will lose access to healthcare because premiums will skyrocket if the credits are not renewed.
The House-passed continuing resolution to fund the government until Nov. 21 still sits in the upper chamber, where it has failed to meet the 60-vote threshold 14 times as of Tuesday. The speaker has kept the House out of session since September, with the members on 48-hour notice. Of the Senate Democratic caucus, only Sen. Angus King (I-ME) and two Democrats have backed the GOP short-term funding bill with a nearing deadline.
As the record neared, the first signs of negotiations arose in the Senate. Both chambers have begun floating a funding extension possibility as the Nov. 21 deadline is just a few weeks away. Senate Appropriations Chairwoman Susan Collins (R-ME) proposed a Dec. 19 deadline, but Johnson has rejected that date in favor of January.
“I am not a fan of extending it to December, because let’s be frank, a lot of people around here have PTSD about Christmas omnibus spending bills,” Johnson said at a Tuesday press conference. “We don’t want to do that. It gets too close, and we don’t want to have that risk. We’re not doing that.”
JOHNSON PREFERS JANUARY SPENDING BILL AND WANTS TO AVOID CHRISTMAS OMNIBUS ‘PTSD’
“I think putting it into January makes sense, but we obviously build consensus around that, there’s some discussion about it, we’ll see where it lands.”
This record is nowhere near the first record the 119th Congress has broken — Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) broke the Senate floor speech record, the House held the longest floor vote in modern history, the most votes were taken in a Senate “vote-a-rama,” and Jeffries broke the record for a “magic minute” on the House floor.