Government shutdown enters 22nd day as Senate Democrats block reopening for 12th time

The Government shutdown There is no end in sight to the 22nd day since Senate Democrats stalled and then blocked a 12th GOP attempt to restart the government Wednesday evening.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck SchumerDN.Y., and his caucus knelt down on Republican bids to reopen the government for a 12th term. The latest failed vote came as Schumer sought another meeting with President Donald Trump and Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., pushed the vote late Wednesday, on the heels of a nearly 24-hour filibuster.

During his marathon floor speech that began at 6:23 p.m. Tuesday, Merkley spoke on authoritarianism — what he called the Trump administration’s overreach on immigration, separation of powers and more.

“Republicans have shut down the government to continue their policy of cutting Americans’ healthcare,” Merkley said, referring to the healthcare-focused debate over government funding.

He concluded his speech at 5:00 pm on Wednesday.

The upper chamber has changed little since the shutdown began. Schumer and the Senate Democratic caucus are demanding that there be a real, iron-clad deal to extend the expiration Obamacare subsidiesBut Senate Republicans are adamant there is no way forward on the issue until the government reopens.

Schumer requested to meet with Trump ‘anytime, any place’ as the Democrat stalemate continues

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., walks away from reporters after a Democratic Policy Luncheon at the U.S. Capitol Building on Oct. 15, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Andrew Harnick/Getty Images)

But what’s old is new in a repeat cycle, and Schumer wants to meet Trump again.

Schumer, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, DN.Y. Speaking on their behalf, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, RS.D., to secure a deal. And congressional Republicans requested another meeting with Trump before the vote to get around it.

There have been informal talks between Republicans and Democrats — more casual conversations than real negotiations — but nothing has materialized that would bring lawmakers closer to resolving the ongoing impasse.

“Hakim and I got in touch President today and urged him to sit down and negotiate with us to solve the health care crisis, to fix it and end the Trump shutdown,” Schumer said. “He must sit down – things are getting worse for the American people. Before he leaves, he should sit down with us, negotiate in a serious way.

Top for the last time Congressional Democrats The meeting with Trump came a day before the climactic vote to avert a shutdown. Neither side made a compromise or agreement to keep the lights on.

Senate Dems were bolstered by weekend rallies

Washington, 21 Oct. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, RS.D., during a luncheon with Republican senators on the Rose Garden Patio at the White House in 2025. President Donald Trump is listening as he speaks. (Manuel Balls Senate/AP)

Fast-forward to the fourth week of the shutdown, and Trump has indicated he will speak with Schumer and Jeffries — only after the government reopens.

“Government should be open,” he said. “You know how long it would take them to do that? Just say, ‘OK, the government is open.’ That’s it. Nothing – they don’t negotiate.”

“What they’re doing is saying they lost the negotiation,” Trump added. “And when we got through the great ‘big beautiful (bill)’, they lost the negotiations. Now they’re saying, ‘Well, we’ve got to get some of the things we lost.’ But the problem is that what they lost is very bad for our country.”

Initial demands from congressional Democrats, in a counter-proposal to the House-passed continuing resolution (CR), called for permanently extending the enhanced Obamacare premium tax credits and railing against Trump’s ability to nail down funding approved by Congress.

Schumer’s shutdown plan explained: Standoff drags on as DEMS doubles down on Obamacare credits

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, RS.D., left, and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., pictured at the U.S. Capitol in Washington. (Kevin Dietz/Getty Images)

A The White House The official doubled down on Trump’s stance, telling Fox News Digital, “We’re not going to have a policy conversation while the Democrats are holding the American people hostage. Reopen the government.”

While Democrats want more than an extension of Covid-19-era subsidies, they have made their primary argument about tax credits.

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Thune has offered Senate Democrats a vote on the subsidies, but so far they have declined to take the leap, instead hoping for a guaranteed outcome in the shutdown fight. However, that is unlikely to come because Republicans and the White House have so far been equally entrenched against Schumer’s demands.

“I think (Trump) Democrats should take ‘yes’ for an answer,” Thune said. “We’ve offered them many of the things they’ve been asking for — a common appropriations process, an opportunity to get a vote on things they’ve been voted on, with respect to the expiration of Obamacare enhanced subsidies. But that can’t happen until we open the government.”