Government shutdown could be the longest ever, Speaker Johnson warns

WASHINGTON AP Republican Speaker Mike Johnson predicted Monday the federal regime shutdown may become the longest in history saying he won t negotiate with Democrats until they hit pause on their medical care demands and reopen Standing alone at the Capitol on the th day of the shutdown the speaker stated he was unaware of the details of the thousands of federal workers being fired by the Trump administration It s a highly exceptional mass layoff widely seen as way to seize on the shutdown to reduce the scope of regime 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 Johnson of Louisiana announced With no endgame in sight the shutdown is expected to roll on for the unforeseeable future The closure has halted routine executive operations shuttered Smithsonian museums and other landmark cultural institutions and left airports scrambling with flight disruptions all injecting more uncertainty into an already precarious economic system 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 fitness care demands Johnson thanked President Donald 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 At its core the shutdown is a debate over fitness care program and particularly the Affordable Care Act subsidies that are expiring for millions of Americans who rely on ruling body aid to purchase their own soundness insurance policies on the Obamacare exchanges Democrats demand the subsidies be extended Republicans argue the issue can be dealt with later With Congress and the White House stalemated certain are eyeing the end of the month as the next anticipated deadline to reopen administration That s when open enrollment begins Nov for the fitness venture 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 It s also when regime workers on monthly pay schedules including thousands of House aides will go without paychecks The physical condition care debate has dogged Congress ever since the Affordable Care Act became law under then-President Barak Obama in The country went through a -day executive shutdown during the Obama presidency when Republicans tried to repeal the Affordable Care Act Trump tried to repeal and replace the law commonly known as Obamacare during his first term in with a Republican majority in the House and Senate That effort failed when then-Sen John McCain memorably voted a thumbs down on the plan With million now enrolled in Obamacare a record Johnson noted Monday that Republicans are unlikely to go that road again noting he still has PTSD from that botched moment Can we entirely repeal and replace Obamacare Countless of us are skeptical about that now because the roots are so deep Johnson disclosed The Republican speaker insists his party has been willing to discuss the physical condition care issue with Democrats this fall before the subsidies expire at the end of the year But first he disclosed Democrats have to agree to reopen the regime The longest shutdown during Trump s first term over his demands for funds to build the U S -Mexico frontier wall ended in after days Meanwhile the Trump administration is exercising vast leeway both to fire workers drawing complaints from fellow Republicans and lawsuits from employee unions and to determine who is paid That means not only military troops but other Trump administration priorities don t necessarily have to go without pay thanks to the various other funding sources as well as the billions made available in what s commonly called Trump s One Big Beautiful Bill Act that s now law The Pentagon explained over the weekend it was able to tap billion in unused research and growth funds to pay the military personnel They had risked missed paychecks on Wednesday But the Guidance Department is among those being hard hit disrupting special development after-school programs and others The Administration also could decide to use mandatory funding provided in the reconciliation act or other sources of mandatory funding to continue exercises financed by those direct appropriations at various agencies according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office The CBO had cited the Department of Defense the Department of the Treasury the Department of Homeland Measure and the Office of Management and Budget as among those that received specific funds under the law Particular of the funds in DoD s direct appropriation under the reconciliation act could be used to pay active-duty personnel during a shutdown thus reducing the number of excepted workers who would receive delayed compensation CBO wrote in a letter responding to questions raised by Sen Joni Ernst R-Iowa Source