As shutdown deadline nears, Democrats have rare leverage over Trump. They're digging in. Zachary Schermele, USA TODAYSeptember 16, 2025 at 4:02 AM 0 WASHINGTON – With each passing day on Capitol Hill, a government shutdown is looking more likely.
- - As shutdown deadline nears, Democrats have rare leverage over Trump. They're digging in.
Zachary Schermele, USA TODAYSeptember 16, 2025 at 4:02 AM
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WASHINGTON – With each passing day on Capitol Hill, a government shutdown is looking more likely.
Time is running out for Democrats and Republicans in Congress to strike a compromise, and neither side appears to be budging in a debate where partisan gridlock could lead to the closing of everything but essential government services. Funding expires in about two weeks at midnight on Oct. 1, and lawmakers have a planned vacation for one of those weeks tied to the Jewish holidays.
For the first time since March, Democrats have a significant political advantage over President Donald Trump. Senate rules require Republicans to get at least some Democratic votes to pass a budget and avoid a shutdown.
Read more: Summer's over but the heat is on in Congress
The last time Democrats were in this position, they decided brinksmanship wasn't worth the political cost. Fearful of how shuttering the government could empower Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency to further erode the federal workforce, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer struck a short-term funding deal with Republicans. Progressive Democrats fumed.
Six months later, Schumer isn't playing so nice. Neither is Hakeem Jeffries, his counterpart in the House of Representatives. The two top Democrats have warned a shutdown is inevitable this time around if Republicans don't offer some concessions, particularly around health care.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, at the U.S. Capitol on Feb. 11, 2025.
More: Government shutdown looms: A look at how and where federal workers would be most affected
Yet Democrats aren't satisfied with what the GOP has offered so far, Schumer told reporters Sept. 10.
"What the Republicans have proposed is not good enough to meet the needs of the American people and not good enough to get our votes," he said.
Republicans in the House are working on a stopgap funding measure that would keep the federal government's lights on until just before Thanksgiving, congressional leaders have said, and Trump is throwing his support behind that strategy. In a Sept. 15 social media post, he urged Republicans to "fight back" against "Radical Left Democrat demands" by voting for the bill.
"Democrats want the Government to shut down," he wrote.
What happens in a shutdown?
When members of Congress can't agree on how to fund the government, it shuts down.
Some federal workers, those considered nonessential, stop coming to work and getting paid. Essential workers, in fields like law enforcement and the military, stay on the job, though also without pay. Both groups are ultimately reimbursed when the government reopens.
National parks have mostly closed during past shutdowns. Benefits such as Social Security and federal student loans continue to be available to Americans, but the agencies that oversee those programs are reduced to skeleton staffs, risking disruptions in services.
Sticking points: Obamacare, Medicaid cuts
One of the main sticking points in the shutdown negotiations is around Medicaid funding. Many Democrats have vocally pushed to reverse recent cuts to the program that were enacted as part of President Trump's major tax and spending law.
Read more: If you live in these states, Trump's tax law will cut health care funds the most
They're also worried about Obamacare subsidies that are about to expire at the end of the year. If Congress doesn't intervene, millions of people could see their health care premiums rise.
Evading a shutdown "starts with a conversation about how to avoid all this pain for millions of Americans across the country," said Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, at a press conference Sept. 9.
In a recent interview with Punchbowl News, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Republicans aren't interested in negotiating on health care right now. Their priority is keeping the government open for the next seven weeks, he said, but Democrats are being too stubborn.
"They see it as politically advantageous to have a shutdown," he said. "Their base is clamoring for that."
More security for politicians?
The shutdown racket also comes amid heightened tensions on Capitol Hill over the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who had close relationships with many Republican lawmakers.
On both sides of the aisle, members of Congress have grown increasingly worried about their own safety since Kirk's Sept. 10 killing. According to the White House Office of Management and Budget, the Trump administration is requesting an additional $58 million in security funding for the executive and judicial branches.
Read more: 'Our lives are in danger.' Lawmakers cancel events, critique security after Kirk shooting
House Speaker Mike Johnson said on "Face the Nation" Sept. 14 that Congress is "evaluating all the options" for making lawmakers safer. He told reporters the next day he's working on attaching a plan to bolster members' security to a stopgap funding bill.
Despite Democrats' concerns for their own safety, they still aren't likely to support the measure if it means funding the government without meeting their demands.
Contributing: Francesca Chambers, USA TODAY
Zachary Schermele is a congressional reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach him by email at [email protected]. Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele and Bluesky at @zachschermele.bsky.social.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Democrats, Trump at odds over funding as shutdown nears
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