Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer speaks at the U.S. Capitol after the Democratic Senate Policy Luncheon on Oct. 7, alongside Sen. Amy Klobuchar, as the government shutdown continues. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Both sides are still dug into the same positions that launched the shutdown earlier this month, too. Talks between the opposing factions are still ongoing but have not yet yielded a result that either side is ready to move on.
Senate Democrats want an extension to expiring Obamacare subsidies before the Nov. 1 open enrollment date, and they argue that unless Congress takes action, Americans that rely on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits will see their premiums skyrocket.
However, Trump appears unwilling to cave into Senate Democrats' demands, and reupped Republicans' argument that Democrats wanted to undo a total of $1.5 trillion in spending cuts from the "big, beautiful bill" and clawback of funding for NPR and PBS to give, in part, to illegal immigrants.
"I don't want to bore you with the fact that Schumer said 100 times, ‘You should never close our government,’" Trump told reporters at the White House. "But Schumer is a weakened politician. I mean, he's going to finish his career as a failed politician, as a failed politician. He's allowed the radical left to take over the Democrat Party."
SCHUMER'S SHUTDOWN SCHEME EXPLAINED: DEMS DOUBLE DOWN ON OBAMACARE CREDITS AS STANDOFF DRAGS ON
President Donald Trump said the government shutdown that took effect Oct. 1, 2025, would likely include mass layoffs and program cuts. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
"Donald Trump, come to the negotiating table," Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., said at a rally outside the OMB on Tuesday. "Bring down costs and prices and stop inflicting harm and terrorizing federal employees and the American people."
While most action on Capitol Hill has ground to a halt as the shutdown continues — the House, for example, has been out of session for over three weeks — the Senate has moved on other legislation, including the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act and a massive package of Trump’s nominees. Thune also teased last week that the defense spending bill could come to the floor soon.
The latest failed attempt comes on the 14th day of the shutdown and all but ensures that the closure will last into at least a third week.
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It also puts this shutdown, in particular, into historic territory. While the longest shutdown on record, from late 2018 to early 2019, was under Trump’s first term, it was only partial. A handful of appropriations bills had already passed at the time, including funding for the legislative branch and defense.
But the longest full shutdown happened over two decades earlier under former President Bill Clinton between late 1995 and early 1996. That shutdown lasted 21 days and was over a budget dispute between Clinton and then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
That particular dispute also led to two shutdowns in that fiscal year, the first in November and the second setting the 21-day record.
Alex Miller is a writer for Fox News Digital covering the U.S. Senate.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-blasts-weakened-schumer-democrats-again-block-gop-effort-reopen-government