Trump administration news: Shutdown enters 22nd day with no end in sight

Senate Democrats on Wednesday made clear that it is on Republicans, including President Donald Trump, to change strategy and negotiate with them, as they continue to draw a red line against voting to reopen the government until a plan is in place to extend enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies.

Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin urged leaders, including Trump, to “sit down and work out an agreement,” as “soon as possible.”

The Illinois Democrat told Raju “no” his constituents aren’t calling for Democrats to change strategies, but rather “telling us that they think health insurance is worth fighting for.”

Sen. Richard Blumenthal agreed that his constituents are concerned about the ACA subsidies and affordable health care, telling reporters, “there will be no solution here unless President Trump has the gumption to get involved.”

Asked if Democrats are taking a risk by counting on Trump, who is about to leave on a foreign trip and hasn’t shown an appetite for a deal, Blumenthal responded, “in the real world, the big risk here is to Americans who will go without health insurance, and very likely, without preventive health care.”

Sen. Peter Welch said he thinks that his Republican colleagues are also concerned about rising health care costs, but that they won’t do anything on the issue “unless President Trump says solve it.”

A federal agent patrols the halls of an immigration court in New York on October 9. Law enforcement personnel with the Department of Homeland Security, including ICE and Border Patrol agents, continue to be paid during a government shutdown.

Federal workers are bearing the brunt of the government shutdown, with more than 1 million of them going unpaid while Democrats and Republicans in Congress argue over funding federal agencies for the current fiscal year.

But federal employees, like members of Congress, continue to receive their salaries, as directed by the Constitution — although some have said they wouldn’t accept their pay or will donate the money. The Trump administration has also taken other measures to pay additional workers as the shutdown drags on to day 22.

Here’s who is still getting paid:

Read more about who’s getting paid and who is not during the government shutdown.

Mike Galletly speaks with CNN on Wednesday.

Mike Galletly was furloughed from his job at the Department of Agriculture when the shutdown began. Because Galletly — the president of his local American Federation of Government Employees union in Utah — has been through two other shutdowns in the past, he took steps to prepare with savings.

But he says others in his union aren’t so lucky, especially younger employees without savings and older members close to retirement.

For those who aren’t working at all or are working without pay, “this is getting harder and harder,” he told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer.

“Nobody joins the federal government … expecting to get rich. And so, you know, we live within our means,” he added.

Sen. Tim Kaine, who represents a large contingent of federal workers living in Virginia, says he’ll oppose a GOP bill to pay “essential” federal workers during the shutdown, arguing Democrats can’t trust President Donald Trump to decide who gets paid.

Instead, Kaine plans to back a Democratic counterproposal that would include pay for furloughed federal workers. Senate Majority Leader John Thune has thrown cold water on that idea, making it unlikely that either the GOP or Democratic version of the federal pay bill is passed this week.

Kaine also told CNN that he expects there will be a vote on his attempt to block military action in Venezuela without congressional approval in two weeks, adding that next week he expects several votes aimed at blocking some of President Donald Trump’s tariffs.

While he wasn’t sure at this point if any other Republicans, beyond his co-sponsor Sen. Rand Paul, will back his war powers resolution, he said he’s heard some of them express “real reservations” about the idea of military action in Venezuela.

The facade of the East Wing of the White House is demolished by work crews on Wednesday, as a part of President Donald Trump's plan to build a ballroom on the eastern side of the White House.

House GOP leader Steve Scalise defended President Donald Trump’s building of a ballroom at the White House, calling it a “permanent renovation that’ll enhance the White House for all future presidents.”

He continued, “It’s not even taxpayer money. It’s going to be a permanent renovation that’ll enhance the White House for all future presidents.”

“What does every Democrat say? They say no to that. They say no to everything he does because they just are angry about the results of the election from last year.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson holds a press conference alongside other Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill on Wednesday.

Speaker Mike Johnson said Wednesday that he and Senate Majority Leader John Thune met yesterday for about an hour and spoke with President Donald Trump about government funding amid the shutdown.

Speaking at a press conference on Capitol Hill, Johnson said he and Thune are “100% aligned as we are with the president.”

He had been asked whether Republicans should consider taking up a government funding bill that would extend funding past November 21, the end-date of the current GOP-backed proposal. As the shutdown drags on, it has raised the prospect that members might need to extend government funding beyond that date to give themselves enough time to finish work on yearlong appropriations bills.

“Obviously, the calendar is being eaten up by all this political nonsense by the Democrats,” the speaker argued, adding, “We’re running out of time to do very important necessary things.”

He indicated that GOP leaders would make decisions on a day-to-day basis.

“We’re getting closer to November. It is going to be more and more difficult with each passing hour to get all the appropriations done on time. We acknowledge that, but we have to decide this on a day-by-day basis,” Johnson said.

Sen. Jeff Merkley, who will turn 69 on Friday, has surpassed his personal longest floor speech and is currently delivering the seventh longest, with no sign of stopping. He’ll move into 6th place if he makes it beyond 12:44 p.m. ET today.

Senate rules do not permit Merkley to take a bathroom break or sit down, meaning he has been standing at his desk since he began speaking at 6:21 p.m. on Tuesday. The Oregon Democrat has been bending his legs at times, highlighting the physical strain that comes with committing to standing for so long.

There will be a short interruption at noon for the daily prayer and pledge, per two sources familiar, but after that Merkley will be able to continue speaking for as long as he likes. As soon as he finishes speaking, there will be another procedural vote on the GOP-backed short-term funding proposal.

While the gallery is largely empty now, due to the shutdown keeping most tourists out of the US Capitol, some visitors have been rotating in and out of the gallery seats. Members of Congress have been personally bringing in guests and school groups, despite the shutdown.

President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House on Tuesday.

Key lawmakers on the Senate Judiciary Committee were wary of the implications of President Donald Trump reportedly seeking $230 million from his own Justice Department as compensation for past investigations into him.

Here’s what they’re saying.

GOP Sen. Thom Tillis: “Particularly right now, we’re talking about a quarter of a billion dollars transferring, maybe to the president when we’re in a shutdown posture, so it’s at very best bad timing, but I think it’s horrible optics.”

Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin: The top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee called the news “outrageous, but common in this administration.”

“The corruption of this presidency is unparalleled in American history, and to think that he is asking now for hundreds of millions of dollars for some compensation is just, it’s unthinkable,” he said.

GOP Sen. John Cornyn: “I want to find out more about it because I don’t know what the details are.”

GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy: “Before I comment, let me, let me, let me read that on my own.”

Oregon Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley speaks on the Senate floor on Tuesday.

Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon has been speaking on the Senate floor for more than 15 hours after announcing he would protest what he called President Donald Trump’s “grave threats to democracy.”

It is unclear when the chamber will next vote on the GOP stopgap proposal to fund the government, which has repeatedly failed.

Merkley began his remarks at 6:24 p.m. ET Tuesday and was still speaking as of Wednesday morning. The senator’s remarks represent a symbolic show of Democratic resistance as the party has blocked Republican efforts to reopen the government 11 times, remaining in a standoff over health care demands.

The Democratic senator pointed to the Trump administration’s previous halting of research grants for universities in its battle over campus oversight as well as the recent indictments of several of the president’s political opponents as well as his push to deploy National Guard troops to Portland.

A truck from Alameda County Community Food Bank arrives at the Oakland International Airport in California on October 16, to distribute goods to TSA agents impacted by the government shutdown.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom will deploy the California National Guard under his command on a “humanitarian mission” to support food banks amid food benefits delays during the federal government shutdown, his office announced.

“The California National Guard will not be acting as law enforcement,” the governor’s office pointedly noted.

The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Pasadena is set to hear arguments this morning related to President Donald Trump’s own deployment of National Guard troops to Los Angeles.

“Millions of Americans rely on food benefits to feed their families, and while Republicans in Washington drag their feet, California is stepping up once again to fill in the gaps. I’m expediting state funds for food banks and directing the California National Guard and California Volunteers to help distribute this food to families,” Newsom said.

Follow live updates on National Guard deployments and legal disputes here.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, at the NATO headquarters in Brussels on October 15.

We’re covering the latest developments in the Trump administration’s diplomacy efforts this morning.

Here’s the latest:

Ukraine war: President Donald Trump will meet with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte today at 4 p.m. ET at the White House as Europe looks to continue working with the administration to drive an end to the Ukraine war.

The meeting comes as the Trump administration reversed course on a near-term summit between the US president and Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying that there are no plans for a meeting in the “immediate future.”

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said today that “preparations for the summit are ongoing; they could take various forms,” according to a state news agency RIA Novosti.

Gaza ceasefire deal: Meanwhile, Vice President JD Vance is still in Israel and reiterated that he was “optimistic” the Gaza ceasefire would hold during a briefing earlier today.

“This thing takes monitoring, and it’s going to take a lot of work,” he told reporters.

Vance also attended a closed meeting with Israeli hostages taken by Hamas who were returned as well as family members of deceased hostages who have not been returned, as well as the families of the victims of the October 7, 2023, attacks, according to a spokesperson for the vice president. Second lady Usha Vance and US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee were also in attendance.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to visit Israel tomorrow, according to two Israeli officials. The Rubio visit would be a remarkable third trip to Israel by a senior US official in a span of two weeks, an indication of the political capital the Trump administration is using to maintain the nascent Gaza ceasefire and advance negotiations for the next phase of the agreement.

Rep. Jamie Raskin, right, speaks as House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, listens during a news conference on Capitol Hill, on Tuesday.

Some House Democrats, led by Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, sent a sharply worded letter Monday night to the Trump administration, demanding it “immediately cease” efforts to use the government shutdown to fire thousands of federal workers.

In the letter to Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought, the lawmakers called his actions “both dangerous and flagrantly illegal,” and they blamed Republicans for “exploiting the shutdown to implement the lawless purges you have long dreamed of.”

The Democrats demanded that OMB rescind its September 24 memorandum instructing agencies to use the government shutdown to issue RIF (reduction in force) notices. They also requested all documents and communications regarding internal administration discussions about carrying out mass layoffs during a shutdown.

The letter was also signed by Democratic Reps. Joe Neguse of Colorado, Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut and Robert Garcia of California.

Remember: The Trump administration initiated mass layoffs across federal agencies, including those involved in public health and special education programs, claiming the shutdown has forced them to reduce the size of the federal workforce. No statute requires federal employees to be laid off during a funding lapse, and it has never been done before.

Labor unions filed a lawsuit to stop the shutdown layoffs, and last week a federal judge in San Francisco paused many of them while the case makes its way through the court.

The lawmakers who signed the letter are members of the House Democrats’ Litigation and Response Taskforce, established to develop legal strategies to push back on Trump policies they say are a violation of the Constitution and the rights of the American people.

CNN reached out to OMB for comment.

This post has been updated with additional information.

CNN’s Kaitlan Collins asked President Donald Trump about a report that he is seeking $230 million from his own Department of Justice to settle past complaints involving the Russia investigation and the classified documents investigation.

Here’s what he said:

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Collins asks Trump about report that he’s seeking $230M from his own DOJ

01:00 • Source: CNN

Collins asks Trump about report that he’s seeking $230M from his own DOJ

01:00

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer arrives to speak to reporters at the US Capitol on Tuesday.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said he plans to again press President Donald Trump for a meeting on the shutdown after Trump said publicly — though not directly to congressional Democrats — that he wouldn’t meet until after the government reopens.

Schumer said Trump has not directly responded to their ask for a meeting yesterday: “We haven’t heard a direct response and we’re going to follow up.”

He stressed that Trump needed to meet with top Democrats before his multi-day trip to Asia.

“The country is in a health care crisis unlike we’ve ever seen. And Donald Trump, instead of leaving the country, or before he leaves the country, should sit down and negotiate with us so we can address this horrible crisis,” Schumer said.

Schumer also insisted that his party would not be changing tactics ahead of the looming funding shortage for WIC and SNAP. Asked whether the prospect of those programs running dry would force his party to change their calculus, he said, “No, it should change Republican calculus. They should sit down and negotiate a way to address this crisis. They caused it, they’re the ones maintaining it.”

A sign indicates that the Library of Congress in Washington, DC, is closed on Tuesday.

Here’s what happened yesterday:

• Blame game: President Donald Trump blamed Democrats for the shutdown, calling them “obstructionists” for not passing a bill to temporarily fund the government. He also reiterated his promise of cutting “Democrat priorities” and programs during the shutdown.

• Stalemate: A frustrated Senate Majority Leader John Thune signaled Republican leaders will keep forging ahead and pressured Democrats to accept the House’s seven-week funding bill. But Senate Democrats are unlikely to back off their demands and see negotiations as the only way out. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and his House counterpart, Hakeem Jeffries, appealed to Trump to sit down with Democrats.

• The road to negotiation: Thune said Trump would only be willing to get more involved in negotiations on the condition that the government reopens. And multiple GOP leaders suggested Trump seemed open to shutdown talks with Democrats if they were willing to put forward a substantive offer.

• Shutdown impacts: The effect on the security workforce will increase as the shutdown continues, according to the Transportation Security Administration. And a shortage of air traffic controllers led to delays at Houston, Chicago and Newark airports last night. Since the shutdown, 192 staffing shortages have been reported, more than four times seen on the same days last year.