House Speaker Mike Johnson predicted Monday the federal government shutdown may become the longest in history, saying he "won't negotiate" with Democrats until they hit pause on their health care demands and reopen, the AP reports. Standing alone at the Capitol on the 13th day of the shutdown, the speaker said he was unaware of the details of the thousands of federal workers being fired by the Trump administration. It's a highly unusual mass layoff widely seen as way to seize on the shutdown to reduce the scope of government. Vice President JD Vance has warned of "painful" cuts ahead, even as employee unions sue. "We're barreling toward one of the longest shutdowns in American history," the Louisiana congressman said Monday.
With no endgame in sight, the shutdown is expected to roll on for the unforeseeable future. The House is out of legislative session, with Johnson refusing to recall lawmakers back to Washington, while the Senate, closed Monday for the federal holiday, will return to work Tuesday. But senators are stuck in a cul-de-sac of failed votes as Democrats refuse to relent on their health care demands. House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said with Republicans having essentially shut down the chamber now for a fourth week, no real negotiations are underway. They're "nowhere to be found," he said on MSNBC.
Johnson thanked President Trump for ensuring military personnel are paid this week, which removed one main pressure point that may have pushed the parties to the negotiating table. The Coast Guard is also receiving pay, a senior administration official confirmed Monday. With Congress and the White House stalemated, some are eyeing the end of the month as the next potential deadline to reopen government. At the end of October, government workers on monthly pay schedules, including thousands of House aides, will go without paychecks. The longest shutdown ever, during Trump's first term over his demands for funds to build the US-Mexico border wall, ended in 2019 after 35 days.
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At its core, this shutdown is a debate over health care policy—particularly the Affordable Care Act subsidies that are expiring for millions of Americans who rely on government aid to purchase their own health insurance policies on the Obamacare exchanges. Democrats demand the subsidies be extended, but Republicans argue the issue can be dealt with later. Open enrollment begins Nov. 1 for the health program at issue, and Americans will face the prospect of skyrocketing insurance premiums. The Kaiser Family Foundation has estimated that monthly costs would double if Congress fails to renew the subsidy payments that expire Dec. 31. (Meanwhile, hundreds of federal employees working on mental health services, disease outbreaks, and disaster preparedness were hit by this weekend's mass firings.)
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