Shutdown Day 13: No progress, but Senate ready to return

WASHINGTON — House Speaker Mike Johnson on Monday slammed as "a boondoggle" the expiring Obamacare premium tax breaks, escalating his attacks against Democrats demanding renewal of those subsidies to end the U.S. government shutdown.

Unless Democrats soften their position, Johnson (R-La.) warned, "We’re barreling toward one of the longest shutdowns in American history." He said those subsidies that lower costs of health care for millions of Americans are in need of significant reforms, and immediate renewal is not a "deliverable" amid the urgency of this shutdown standoff.

The Senate returns to session Tuesday on what will be the 14th day of government closure, expecting to vote for an eighth time on a straightforward House-passed GOP bill to provide new funding and reopen agencies. The longest federal government shutdown was a partial one that lasted 35 days, occurring from late 2018 to early 2019 during President Donald Trump's previous term.

But as of Monday, Senate Democrats were giving no new inclination to help Republicans get a bill through to replenish agency coffers through Nov. 21. Republicans have been five votes short.

Democrats, meanwhile, amped up their criticism of Johnson’s decision to continue keeping House Republicans out of session this week. The chamber has not held a vote since Sept. 19.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-Brooklyn) said on MSNBC Monday that House and Senate Republican leaders "have basically gone radio silent" in terms of negotiating with himself and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). He said that's "because they decided they wanted to shut down the government. They're trying to visit pain on the American people."

Even if the House is not in session, Jeffries has called on the chamber’s Democrats to gather at a closed-door caucus at the Capitol on Tuesday night, to be followed in the week by other public events.

 Trump returned Monday from a Middle East trip that included the signing of the peace deal to end the war in Gaza. Johnson asserted that Trump remains firmly behind congressional Republicans. "He and I are both so frustrated that Democrats are perfectly happy to do all this damage while they play political stunts," Johnson said at a Capitol news conference.

Before leaving for overseas, Trump and his lieutenants had initiated thousands of federal employee layoffs, sending out 60-day notices to workers from a variety of agencies — and more layoffs are expected to be announced.

Trump did instruct that money be found to pay active-duty members of the military their next paychecks, due Wednesday. The Pentagon over the weekend said the funding has been located.

But questions remained about paying members of the Coast Guard. Monday night, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem posted on X that the issue had been resolved, and Coast Guard members wouldn’t miss paychecks this week.

"President Donald Trump did not want any of our military to go without pay as a result of Democrats' political theater, and we at DHS worked out an innovative solution to make sure that didn't happen," she wrote, without giving details.