Shutdown stalemate nears key pain points

World Central Kitchen serves food for federal workers not getting paid during shutdown

(Image credit: Kent Nishimura / Bloomberg via Getty Images)

What happened

The government shutdown is in its fourth week and Senate Democrats and Republicans appear to be sticking to their positions while House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) keeps the lower chamber out of session.

But a federal employee union Monday called on Democrats to accept the GOP offer of a “clean” short-term spending bill, adding to a “laundry list of pressure points” that could help break the stalemate, Politico said.

Who said what

“It’s time to pass a clean continuing resolution and end this shutdown,” American Federation of Government Employees National President Everett Kelley said in a statement. That was the “first major fraying” of the Democrats’ coalition, Politico said. But “Republicans are facing a tactical divide of their own” on whether to hold votes to “ease particular pain points” by funding SNAP food stamps set to expire Nov. 1 and paying federal employees.

Republicans are also under increasing “political pressure” from constituents as notices of Affordable Care Act “premium spikes” begin “landing in mailboxes” before the enrollment period opens this weekend, The Associated Press said. Extending ACA subsidies is the Democrats’ top negotiating ask, and it “appears to be gaining political strength heading into next year’s midterm elections.”

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What next?

Democratic lawmakers say they “feel they have the upper hand and that Republicans are poised to come to the negotiating table,” Axios said, “though Republicans say essentially the exact opposite.” Meanwhile, Politico said, there are “growing signs of bipartisan frustration about the stalemate” among the “rank-and-file.” Some Republicans, NRP congressional reporter Sam Gringlas said, “predict Thanksgiving will be a turning point.”

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.