House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., speaks to the media next to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on the day U.S. President Donald Trump meets with top congressional leaders from both parties, just ahead of a September 30 deadline to fund the government and avoid a shutdown, at the White House in Washington, D.C., Sept. 29, 2025. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)
Republicans have for weeks pushed a short-term extension of fiscal year (FY) 2025 federal funding levels called a continuing resolution (CR), aimed at giving lawmakers until Nov. 21 to strike a deal on FY2026 spending.
The measure is largely free of unrelated policy riders, save for an added $88 million aimed at enhanced security funding for lawmakers, the White House and the Supreme Court.
But Democrats have said they will reject any federal funding bill that does not also extend enhanced Obamacare subsidies that are set to expire at the end of 2025. The enhanced subsidies were a COVID-19 pandemic-era measure that a majority of Republicans have said is no longer needed.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., have said they are open to discussing a reformed version of those subsidies, but rejected pairing the two issues together.
The House passed the CR on Sept. 19. Johnson has kept his chamber out of session since then in a bid to pressure Senate Democrats to agree to the GOP bill — though they have rejected it 13 times since then.
U.S. Capitol Building at sunset on Jan. 30, 2025. (Emma Woodhead/Fox News Digital)
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Senate Democrats, led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., still want a solid deal on expiring Obamacare subsidies, and want Trump to get more involved. That desire, despite the optimism, will likely see the House-passed CR fail for a 14th time Tuesday morning.
When asked if breaking the record would add more weight to lawmakers’ ending the shutdown, Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., believed it would take an outside force.
"I don't see what it is," he said. "It'll take some type of an outside inflection point, or the best negotiator in the world to come in."
Meanwhile, funding for critical government programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the Women, Infants, and Children program (WIC), as well as national flood insurance are running critically low on funds — potentially ensnaring millions of Americans.
Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.
Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to elizabeth.elkind@fox.com
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/government-shutdown-becoming-longest-us-history-democrats-dig-obamacare