Shutdown Day 30: Senate out till next week

WASHINGTON — The federal government shutdown will continue at least through Monday — its 34th day — after the Senate adjourned on Thursday with no plans to reconvene until next week.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told reporters that conversations will continue between rank-and-file members through Monday, when lawmakers will gavel back into session.

Thune said he was open to the possibility of creating a working group of senators to hash out a deal on Affordable Care Act health care subsidies that are set to expire. Senate Democrats have been withholding their support from a short-term spending bill, arguing that an extension of the subsidies needs to be part of any funding deal. The health insurance open enrollment period kicks off on Saturday.

"I’ve lived through several government shutdowns in my time here. Nobody wins. And if there’s anything about it, it’s just the stupidity of it. This is something we ought to be able to work out," Thune said during a morning appearance on CNBC.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-Brooklyn), speaking to reporters, appeared to question Thune’s assertion earlier in the day that the ongoing talks between rank-and-file senators were a sign of progress.

"It's not clear to me that John Thune is being accurate when he reports that there's an uptick in bipartisan communication," Jeffries said. "What communications is he talking about?"

As the funding stalemate stretched past Day 30, both sides warned of the dire consequences.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle held news conferences raising concerns about the nearly 42 million Americans who rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) who will not receive their monthly stipend on Saturday due to the shutdown.

Vice President JD Vance and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, appearing at the White House, also raised concerns about potential travel delays heading into Thanksgiving due to unpaid airport workers calling out sick, much as they did during the 35-day shutdown that occurred during President Donald Trump’s first term.

"It could be a disaster," Vance said. "It really could be. Because at that point, we're talking about people who have missed three paychecks, they've missed four paychecks. How many of them are not going to show up for work?"

Congressional staffers were set to join the ranks of other unpaid federal workers, missing their first monthly paycheck on Friday.

Long Island’s four U.S. House members, whose paychecks are guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution regardless of a shutdown, said they have requested their paychecks be withheld until the government closure is over.

GOP Reps. Nick LaLota (R-Amityville) and Andrew Garbarino (R-Bayport), along with Democratic Reps. Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove) and Laura Gillen (D-Rockville Centre), are among other members of Congress who have written to the House’s chief administrative officer, requesting a hold on their paychecks until the funding impasse is resolved.

The House remained out of session, with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) refusing to reconvene his chamber until Senate Democrats agree to pass the short-term spending bill without the health care conditions.

Johnson and other New York House Republicans on Thursday continued trying to link Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for New York City mayor, to the shutdown at a news conference attended by LaLota, Garbarino and other New York House members.

Johnson accused Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Jeffries of working to placate the far-left voices of the Democratic Party.

"They can feel the political winds," Johnson said. "And they know they have to continue to act belligerently in order to gain the favor of the far left."