Government shutdown reaches 36 days; longest in history

· UPI

Nov. 5 (UPI) -- As the clock struck midnight overnight, the current federal government shutdown entered its sixth week and set a record as the longest in U.S. history.

There had been whispers of negotiations in recent days among a small group of U.S. House members, but the shutdown nonetheless entered its 36th day Wednesday.

Over the past five weeks, hundreds of thousands of government employees have missed paychecks, air traffic controller staffing issues have threatened to shut down air travel and more than 40 million people have gone without food assistance.

Previously, the longest government shutdown was in 2019, during President Donald Trump's first term, and lasted 34 days.

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The U.S. Senate on Tuesday failed to garner 60 votes to pass a bill that would fund the government through Nov. 21 as all but a few Democratic members of the chamber continue to vote against it. It was the 14th time the upper chamber voted on the legislation.

Democrats have opposed the bill because it does not include an extension of tax credits for people who buy insurance on Affordable Care Act -- also known as Obamacare -- exchanges that were put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic and without which premiums are set to rise exponentially.

"We're not asking for anything radical," Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said in remarks before Tuesday's failed vote, noting that Senate Republicans have voted down a spending bill that would include the credits.

"Lowering people's healthcare costs is the definition of common sense and what Americans want across the spectrum," he said.

Members of Congress have told reporters that back-channeling on a potential deal was underway, which would require the Republican-controlled House to return from recess to consider a new bill. Some suggested moderate Democrats could be open to such a deal.

"We're hoping this will be the week when the Democrats come to their senses and decide to reopen the government," Senate Republican leader John Thune of South Dakota said on Tuesday.

According to members of both the House and Senate, a deal may come together to fund the government through either mid-December or mid-January, and could include funding military construction and veterans affairs, the legislative branch and agriculture, as well as a vote to extend the ACA tax credits.

Trump, aside from calling for Senate Republicans to invoke the "nuclear option" and jettison the 60-vote requirement to break a filibuster, has largely stayed out of negotiations -- although he invited GOP senators to a meeting at the White House on Wednesday morning.

The Trump administration said Monday it would fund the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, after two judges on Friday ruled that the executive branch is required to distribute benefits using a contingency fund set up by Congress to prevent participants from going hungry.

On Tuesday, however, Trump intimated that he might not distribute benefits until the government shutdown has ended -- an idea White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt clarified later in the afternoon.

"The administration is fully complying with the court order. I just spoke to the president about it," Leavitt said. "The recipients of these SNAP benefits need to understand it's going to take time to receive this money because the Democrats have forced the administration into a very untenable position."

The lack of a spending bill also is threatening U.S. air travel weeks before the Thanksgiving holiday, which is one of the busiest periods of travel for Americans each year.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said over the weekend, as well as on Monday and Tuesday, that as air traffic controllers do not get paid during the shutdown, more and more are not showing up for work.

Noting the increase in flight delays, Duffy said that nearly half of the delays on Monday were specifically tied to staffing issues in air traffic control towers.

"You will see mass chaos, you will see mass delays, you will see mass cancellations," Duffy said Tuesday during a news conference. "And you may see us close certain parts of the airspace because we just cannot manage it because we don't have air traffic controllers."

World Central Kitchen serves free meals to furloughed federal workers

Furloughed federal workers line up as Jose Andres' World Central Kitchen's Relief Team sets up a free meal distribution site in Washington, D.C., on Monday. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo