Speaker Mike Johnson is hiking pressure on Senate Democrats by keeping the House out of session for a sixth straight week.
The ongoing government shutdown is the second-longest in history and less than a week out from shattering another record, with the 2018-2019 shutdown lasting nearly 35 days.
Senate Democrats have shot down the GOP’s short-term federal funding plan 13 times, and while some glimmers of hope for compromise are beginning to show, leaders on both sides of the aisle have not signaled any wiggle room from their positions.
Meanwhile, funding for critical programs that millions of American families rely on is expected to run dry this weekend, with the Senate leaving Washington until Monday after failing to pass the funding bill yet again.
Federal dollars for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) are expected to run dry starting Saturday, meaning some 42 million Americans who depend on food stamps may begin to see their benefits temporarily disappear.
Funding for the Women, Infants, and Children program (WIC), which provides support for pregnant mothers and children under age 5, is also in danger of running dry even despite the Trump administration moving funding around to accommodate it earlier this month.
The Head Start program, which funds childcare for low-income families with young children, is also likely to run out of money this weekend.
Republicans’ measure, called a continuing resolution (CR), is a mostly flat seven-week extension of current federal funding levels. It also includes $88 million in security funding for lawmakers, the White House and the judicial branch — which has bipartisan support.
But Democrats in the House and Senate were infuriated by being sidelined in federal funding talks.
They have been pushing for an extension of Obamacare subsidies enhanced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Those enhancements would expire by the end of 2025 without congressional action.
Republican leaders have signaled openness to discussions about reforming and enhancing those healthcare credits but are rejecting Democrats’ demand to include them in the CR.
Democrats have been hoping that the looming open enrollment start date, also coming Saturday, could pressure Republicans into making concessions.
Johnson has kept the House out of session since passing the bill on Sept. 19. Democrats have criticized the move almost daily, accusing the GOP leader of keeping Republicans ‘on vacation’ while the government is shut down.
But Johnson has maintained that the House cannot resume its work until Democrats end the shutdown. He’s instead directed Republicans to remain in their districts to communicate the effects of the shutdown and help their constituents better navigate it.
The vast majority of House Republicans have remained united on the strategy, but cracks have started to show as the shutdown drags on.
Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., and Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, all heaped doubt on the plan with varying degrees of frustration during a House GOP lawmaker-only call on Tuesday, Fox News Digital was told.
Greene and Kiley have been making their criticisms of Johnson’s strategy clear for weeks, but Crenshaw appears to be the newest GOP lawmaker to express doubts.
‘I’m no longer convinced that staying out of session has benefits that outweigh the costs,’ Crenshaw said, Fox News Digital was told.