The Senate returns to Washington, D.C., as the shutdown hurtles toward the longest on record, and as neither side is ready to dislodge from their positions. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)
But for now, neither side is budging from the positions they’ve maintained since Oct. 1, when the shutdown officially began.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and his Democratic caucus want a deal on expiring Obamacare premium subsidies before they agree to reopen the government. Saturday was when open enrollment officially began nationwide.
They’ve long warned that unless a deal was made before open enrollment, Americans that rely on the subsidies would see their premiums spike, despite the subsidies not expiring until the end of this year.
"People are going to see drastic, drastic increases in their healthcare costs," Schumer said last week. "People are going to sit at the dinner table Friday night with a pit, with a hole in the pit of their stomach, and say, ‘How are we going to do this?’"
FOOD STAMP BENEFITS FOR 42 MILLION AMERICANS IN JEOPARDY TODAY AMID SHUTDOWN
Senate Majority Leader John Thune speaks during a press conference with Senate Republican leadership following a policy luncheon on Capitol Hill in Washington, Oct. 28, 2025. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)
But Trump won’t meet with the top congressional Democrats until the shutdown ends — a point he and Republicans have made time and time again.
And he won’t budge on healthcare negotiations until the government reopens, either.
"I'm not going to do it by being extorted by the Democrats who have lost their way," Trump said on CBS’ "60 Minutes." "There's something wrong with these people."
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Meanwhile, Trump has urged Senate Republicans to get rid of the 60-vote filibuster threshold in the upper chamber. Doing so is a proverbial third rail for Senate Republicans and a longstanding priority for Senate Democrats.
He renewed that call over the weekend in posts on Saturday and Sunday to his social media platform Truth Social.
"Republicans, you will rue the day that you didn’t TERMINATE THE FILIBUSTER!!! BE TOUGH, BE SMART, AND WIN," he said.
Alex Miller is a writer for Fox News Digital covering the U.S. Senate.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/senate-returns-work-government-shutdown-nears-longest-us-history-over-obamacare-fight