The ongoing government shutdown entered its 19th day with no resolution in sight, cementing its place as the third-longest funding lapse in modern U.S. history. After repeated failures to break the impasse, both chambers of Congress have effectively recessed, ensuring the closure will continue until at least Monday.
The shutdown is now surpassed only by the funding battles of 1995 and the 2018-2019 closure, a phenomenon that has only become commonplace in its current form since 1980.
A series of votes in the Senate on Thursday marked the tenth time lawmakers failed to resolve the funding crisis. Following the deadlock, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R) sent the upper chamber home for the weekend. The House of Representatives, which voted on and approved the Continuing Resolution (CR), has been out of session since September 19th, with no plans to reconvene until a funding deal is reached.
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The lack of funding is beginning to create significant strains across the federal government. Most notably, the agency responsible for overseeing the nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile has alerted a top Republican lawmaker of plans to furlough approximately 80% of its staff due to a funding shortfall.
In an effort to mitigate the financial hardship on federal employees, Thune’s office announced on Thursday that the Senate will consider a bill next week designed to pay federal employees and military service members who have continued to work without pay.
However, the path forward remains difficult. The legislation to pay workers will require bipartisan support. Democrats recently blocked the advancement of a long-term defense spending bill, indicating the deep partisan chasm that has stalled any meaningful progress toward reopening the government.
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