The U.S. Senate adjourned for the day on Wednesday with no resolution on how to reopen the government.
Blame was being cast on all sides on the first day of the shutdown. A vote to end the government shutdown failed earlier Wednesday, as Democrats in the Senate held firm to the party’s demands to fund health care subsidies that President Donald Trump and Republicans refuse to extend.
At issue are tax credits that have made health insurance through the Affordable Care Act more affordable for millions of people since the COVID-19 pandemic. The credits are set to expire at the end of the year if Congress doesn’t extend them — which would more than double what subsidized enrollees currently pay for health insurance premiums, according to a KFF analysis.
Senators will return Friday, after a break for the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, to vote again on a GOP measure to extend federal funding for seven weeks.
Here’s what to know:
What a government shutdown means: When a lapse in funding occurs, U.S. law requires federal agencies to cease activity and furlough “non-excepted” employees. Excepted employees stay on the job but don’t get paid until after the shutdown ends.Health care demands: Democrats want the health care subsidies extended now, for Republicans to reverse the Medicaid cuts that were enacted over the summer, and for the White House to promise not to rescind congressional spending. Republicans say there’s still time to negotiate on health care this year, but stopgap funding for the government is the priority. Republican claims that Democrats want to provide free health care to immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally are false.Some federal services will halt or be eliminated: The Office of Management and Budget has told federal agencies to plan mass reductions in force within the next few days, in addition to furloughs. All administrations get some leeway to choose which services to freeze and which to maintain in a shutdown. FBI investigators, air traffic controllers and those supporting Trump’s immigration crackdown are just some of the workers who will continue working during the shutdown.