What we covered here
• No end in sight: Competing Republican and Democratic measures to fund the federal government failed again today in the Senate, with lawmakers still at an impasse over enhanced Obamacare subsidies on the third day of a shutdown. With the Senate not expected to be in session this weekend, the standoff will likely extend into next week.
• Firings loom: The Trump administration has signaled thousands of government layoffs could begin soon. President Donald Trump says he has tasked Project 2025 architect Russ Vought with identifying jobs to slash, though the White House declined to say if it is directly following the controversial policy blueprint.
• Tracking the impact: Agencies and activities deemed essential are still open, and we’re monitoring which programs are impacted. Is the shutdown affecting you? Tell us about it.
The shutdown is heading into the weekend with no end in sight. Here's what you need to know
The government shutdown looks very likely to stretch into next week after competing Democratic and Republican proposals to fund the government failed again in the Senate this afternoon.
Here’s a look at all that happened today and where things stand moving forward:
- What’s going on in Congress: As expected, the upper chamber failed to advance competing GOP and Democratic short-term funding bills today before senators went home for the weekend. The impasse largely centers on enhanced Obamacare subsidies, which Democrats say need to be addressed now and Republicans argue should wait to be debated until the end of the year. Meanwhile, Speaker Mike Johnson said the House won’t return to Washington next week.
- Firings: There has still been little concrete news about possibly thousands of federal employee layoffs that the Trump administration has threatened will accompany a sustained shutdown. In light of his meeting with OMB Director Russ Vought, the controversial architect of Project 2025, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt insisted President Donald Trump and his team are the ones deciding the “blueprint” for cuts across the federal government and that those discussions are still continuing. One White House official said yesterday the layoffs could come as soon as today or over the weekend.
- Blame game: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Trump and Republicans are “not behaving in a serious manner” and don’t want to end the shutdown. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer also accused Republicans of refusing to negotiate with Democrats. Meantime, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he’s open to meeting with Schumer “if he’s got something to say.” Leavitt indicated Trump is not directly speaking to Democratic senators.
- Funding cuts: When it comes to the Trump administration’s moves to freeze federal funding for key construction projects in some Democrat-run cities during the shutdown, Republican leaders in Congress are largely standing by the president. Johnson argued Trump has the right to make decisions that align with its priorities. Other Republicans, however, have warned the move could backfire.
- Ripples around Washington: An automatic reply from the US Department of Agriculture’s press office blames the “Radical Left Democratic shutdown” for furloughing its staff. One CNN employee who received a summons for jury duty was notified that she wouldn’t be paid a juror fee until after the shutdown. The Smithsonian says its museums, research centers and the National Zoo will remain open through at least October 11.
Largest federal employee union files lawsuit against Dept. of Education over out-of-office messages
The American Federation of Government Employees, the largest federal employee union, filed a lawsuit against the Department of Education today, arguing that out-of-office messages sent on behalf of some employees without their consent is a violation of the First Amendment.
Multiple furloughed workers from the Department of Education had out-of-office messages blaming Democrats for the government shutdown automatically sent from their email accounts without their consent or knowledge, CNN reported yesterday.
According to the lawsuit, the out-of-office messages said, in part: “Democrat Senators are blocking passage of H.R. 5371 in the Senate which has led to a lapse in appropriations.”
CNN reached out to the Education Department for comment and received a similar out-of-office message.
AFGE national president Everett Kelley said in a statement, “Federal employees already are suffering financially by going without a salary due to this politically motivated government shutdown.”
The lawsuit asks the court to bar the Education Department from continuing to change employees’ out-of-office messages to include “partisan political speech.”
GOP senator says "all’s fair in love and war" as Trump administration moves to freezes funding amid shutdown
Republican Sen. Roger Marshall on Friday defended the Trump administration’s decision to freeze federal funding for key projects in Democratic-run cities.
“You know, all’s fair in love and war, and I think that there’s a price to pay for the Democrats shutting this down,” he told CNN. “They’ve shut it down because of a political reason, that Chuck Schumer is kowtowing to his far left Marxist base, and so these will be part of the consequences.”
Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal warned the moves would come to haunt Republicans.
“Americans really hate bullies and this kind of bullying from the White House is going to backlash on them, because they understand that an authoritarian president who uses grants to New York for infrastructure or laying off workers, deliberately inflicting pain — that kind of bullying will backlash on the White House and Republicans here,” he said.
“If I were a Republican senator right here, I’d be telling the White House, ‘Forget about it. Don’t lay off thousands of people, don’t inflict unnecessary pain and then boast about it’ which is what they’re doing,” the Connecticut Democrat said.
USDA press office automatic reply blames "Radical Left" for shutdown
If you contact the press office at the US Department of Agriculture right now, you’ll get a message blaming the “Radical Left Democratic shutdown” for furloughing its staff.
“As you await a response, please remember these delays could have been avoided had Senate Democrats supported the clean Continuing Resolution to fund the government,” the automatic reply says.
The message come as federal workers at various agencies said they were provided with suggested partisan language to include in their own out-of-office email notices.
In the case of multiple furloughed workers from the Department of Education, messages blaming Democrats for the shutdown were automatically sent from their email accounts without their consent or knowledge, according to four sources familiar with the situation.
There have also been messages on several agency websites that blame Democratic senators for Congress’ failure to agree to extend funding at the start of the fiscal year.
Why this matters: Some federal workers raised concerns that the messages could be a violation of the Hatch Act, which states that federal government officials and employees are required to perform their duties in a nonpartisan manner.
CNN’s Sunlen Serfaty, René Marsh and Michael Williams contributed reporting to this post.
Schumer slams House GOP for canceling votes next week amid shutdown
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer slammed House Republicans for canceling votes next week, telling reporters, “Johnson and House Republicans care more about protecting the Epstein files than protecting the American people.”
Sen. Brian Schatz, a member of Schumer’s leadership team, added, “I think there is not a clearer illustration of their lack of seriousness in terms of reopening the government and solving the health care crisis.”
Schumer insisted that Democrats will remain united against the House-passed stop gap funding bill.
“Today we saw the Republicans run the same play and they got the same result. The question is, will they change course? The votes aren’t there,” he said.
“They thought they could bludgeon us and threaten us and scare us. It ain’t working because my caucus and Democrats are adamant that we must protect the health care of the American people.”
He argued that Democrats are in a “strong position,” and that the White House and Republicans will face more pressure over rising health care premiums.
Pressed on what he needs to see from Republicans, Schumer replied, “I’m not going to negotiate in public,” though he insisted that President Donald Trump has to be included.
“Thune is not enough, you need Johnson and you particularly need Trump to get it done,” he said.
The Democratic leader also encouraged his senators to continue speaking with their Republican colleagues, though he noted that they hadn’t received anything promising offers yet.
House will not return to Washington with shutdown set to enter its second week
Speaker Mike Johnson has decided not to bring the House back to Washington next week, with the shutdown now poised to drag into its second week.
GOP leaders officially gave notice to members Friday afternoon that they would not summon them back with the Senate still in a stalemate over government funding. Johnson has been clear that House Republicans have already passed a stopgap funding bill – which Senate Democrats have now rejected four times – and that it is up to Democrats to change their position.
The Senate left town Friday afternoon for the weekend after lawmakers again failed to advance GOP and Democratic funding proposals. The chamber is expected to return Monday afternoon.
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries has said that his members will return to Washington next week regardless.
Chuck Schumer says Republicans have "refused to talk" to Democrats during shutdown stalemate
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer accused Republicans of refusing to talk to Democrats to find a way to reopen the government.
Schumer spoke a short time ago on Capitol Hill, flanked by fellow Democrats, after competing Democratic and Republican proposals to fund the government failed again in the Senate this afternoon.
Republicans have “run the same play and they got the same result,” Schumer said of the failed GOP-backed short-term funding bill. Democrats blocked the measure on back-to-back days.
He said Democrats asked Senate Republican leaders to have conversations and negotiate, specifically on health care, but they have “refused and barreled us into a shutdown.”
Schumer blamed the GOP and President Donald Trump for “using the American people as political pawns.”
Remember: Democrats have said not even the threat of mass firings and canceled federal projects will force them to accept the GOP proposal without major policy concessions on health care — their major sticking point.
This means the shutdown will likely continue into next week, as Senate GOP leaders have signaled they won’t hold votes this weekend.
This post has been updated with remarks from Schumer.
Murkowski criticizes Trump admin for targeting blue states during shutdown
Key centrist Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski says she’s “encouraged” by bipartisan talks to find a way out of the government shutdown but said there’s more work to be done before a resolution is found.
“I’m encouraged because I think there were a lot of good conversations between people on both sides of the aisle that want to see a shutdown terminated,” said Murkowski who has been part of those informal talks. “Just because we are talking doesn’t mean we are there yet.”
She was asked if Republicans might accept extending current laws related to Affordable Care Act subsides — a sort of stopgap bill to keep it in place until the end of the year and give negotiators time to hash out a long-term compromise.
She said she’s “not sure it’s possible to do that while we’re in a government shutdown.”
She also criticized the Trump administration for targeting blue states with budget cuts during the shutdown.
“We shouldn’t be targeting different areas in ways that would be viewed as punitive. That’s not what we do,” she said. “Let’s not paint it blue and red. Let’s not divide people politically. This is already stressful enough. We just don’t need to do that.”
Smithsonian will be open to public through next Saturday
The Smithsonian says its museums, research centers and the National Zoo will remain open through at least October 11 despite the ongoing government shutdown.
Previously, officials said the centers would be open through this coming Monday.
“If the government shutdown continues past October 11, the Smithsonian will then close to the public,” the Smithsonian said on its website.
You can see a full list of what is affected by the government shutdown here.
GOP stopgap funding bill fails again to advance
The Senate failed to advance Republicans’ stopgap funding bill once again this afternoon in a 54 to 44 vote.
To pass the bill that would fund the government for seven weeks, Republicans need 60 votes. That means they need to secure seven Democratic votes if all GOP lawmakers vote to support it (and eight if GOP Sen. Rand Paul remains opposed).
Democratic Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto and John Fetterman, as well as independent Sen. Angus King, voted with most Republicans to advance the bill. As in previous votes, Paul was the only Republican to vote against advancing the measure.
The shutdown is expected to stretch through the weekend, with lawmakers not expected to take votes again on reopening the government until next week.
Fetterman says "no sh*t" he's worried about the White House firing federal workers during shutdown
Sen. John Fetterman told reporters he’s worried about permanent damage that White House budget chief Russ Vought could do to the federal government as part of the administration’s response to the shutdown, which has included layoff threats.
“No sh*t. That’s why I said I wasn’t going to shut our government down,” Fetterman said when asked about concerns over Vought’s threats of mass firings.
“You want to give him, you know, a lot of free time to figure out other ways to do these kinds of things? This is why, part of the reasons why I would never shut it down,” Fetterman said.
The Pennsylvania Democrat has broken with much of the rest of his party in voting in support of a GOP proposal to reopen the government.
NOW: The Senate is voting on Republicans' proposal to fund the government
Senators are now voting on a short-term government funding proposal from the Republican Party.
It needs 60 votes to advance, meaning Republicans would need Democrats to sign on.
Democratic stopgap funding bill fails again to advance
The Senate failed to advance Democrats’ stopgap funding bill once again this afternoon in a 46 to 52 vote.
A bill to reopen the government needs 60 votes to advance.
Lawmakers will now vote on Republicans’ House-passed version.
NOW: The Senate is voting on Democrats' proposal to fund the government
Senators are now voting on a short-term government funding proposal from the Democratic Party.
It needs 60 votes to advance, meaning Democrats would need Republicans to sign on.
House minority leader says Trump and GOP don't want to reopen government
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, addressing reporters on Capitol Hill, insisted today that Republicans are the ones to blame for the ongoing shutdown as lawmakers remain in a stalemate over how to fund the government.
“We are in the midst of a government shutdown that has been caused by Donald Trump and Republicans,” Jeffries said.
As the shutdown stretches on, Jeffries claimed Trump is “missing in action” and House Republicans are “on vacation.” Meantime, he said Senate Republicans keep voting on the same bill, which Democrats will not back “because it guts the health care of the American people.”
Quick context: If you’re not up to speed, the impasse largely centers on enhanced Obamacare subsidies, which Democrats say need to be addressed now — before enrollment starts in some states next month — and Republicans argue should wait to be debated until the end of the year.
The Democratic leader warned that if the Affordable Care Act tax credits his party is pushing for are not extended, premiums for many Americans will “skyrocket” at a time where there is a “cost of living crisis.”
Meanwhile: Jeffries’ news conference began just before the Senate started to vote on competing GOP- and Democrat-backed funding proposals — neither of which is expected to pass over the other party’s rejection.
This post has been updated with more on Jeffries’ remarks.
Two Senate Republicans warn against administration cuts to blue states during shutdown
Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins and Sen. Thom Tillis warned the administration against cutting funds for blue states, with Tillis arguing that could “100%” backfire and cause Democrats to dig in further as the shutdown drags out.
“If OMB goes about canceling things, just like the rescissions, that were foundational to past compromises, you destroy the credibility of future compromises,” said Tillis. “That’s why they need to be very, very judicious and consult with the leadership so that they know when they may be trending into that space.”
He added, “Trust: that’s how this place runs well, when it runs well.”
Collins told reporters, “no,” freezing funding for blue states is not appropriate.
GOP senator warns both parties may dig in further in shutdown fight when House returns next week
GOP Sen. Mike Rounds, who has been involved in informal discussions with bipartisan senators about how to end the government shutdown, warned that the House’s return next week could cause both parties to dig in further, extending the shutdown.
He added, “At that point, you’ve got those folks back in and you’ve got 435 members now, all angry, on both sides. You’re just going to hear more fuel to the fire.”
Rounds also said he doesn’t think there are enough Senate Democrats open to cutting a deal at this point. “I’m not optimistic that more than just a few of them want to get to yes,” he said.
“I think they’re still feeling the pressure to tell their base that they’re fighting the administration.”
Leavitt indicates Trump not directly having conversations with Democratic senators about government funding
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt indicated that President Donald Trump is not directly speaking to Democratic senators about signing onto a spending package to end the government shutdown, instead pointing to conversations Republican senators are having across the aisle.
“The Senate Republicans are speaking directly with moderate Democrats. I understand those conversations have become very serious, and we hope positive in the right direction so that Democrats will do the right thing,” Leavitt said from the White House briefing room in response to a question from a reporter.
Trump did met with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries ahead of the shutdown, although the sit-down did not lead to a deal.
Republicans need five more senators to get on board with the “clean” continuing resolution in order to end the government shutdown.
Leavitt says Trump and his team "ultimately decide" blueprint for federal cuts
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that President Donald Trump and his team decide the “blueprint” for cuts across the federal government, declining to say if they are directly following Project 2025 as a guide.
“Look the blueprint is what the president and his team and his Cabinet secretaries ultimately decide, and the president trusts his Cabinet secretaries to identify where there is waste, fraud and abuse,” Leavitt told reporters during the briefing when asked about Project 2025’s influence.
Trump distanced himself from the conservative playbook on the campaign trail, but yesterday praised Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought before a meeting as “he of PROJECT 2025 Fame.”
Leavitt pointed to Vought’s announcement earlier Friday that $2.1 billion in Chicago infrastructure projects was being paused “to ensure funding is not flowing via race-based contracting.”
Asked if Trump and Vought have identified which agency cuts to make and which ones would be permanent, Leavitt said “discussions continue” between OMB and Cabinet secretaries.
“They are actively identifying where these cuts and these layoffs have to be made as this government shutdown hopefully does not continue,” Leavitt said.
