US government shutdown enters 21st day with no end in sight

WASHINGTON

The US government shutdown entered its 21st day Tuesday after the Senate on Monday blocked a stopgap funding measure for the 11th time.

Senate Republicans are now meeting with President Donald Trump for lunch at the White House as a resolution remains out of reach.

Trump urges Senate Democrats to "stop the madness" and support a bipartisan funding measure to immediately end the shutdown.

"We've got to get our government open, and the Democrats are trying to keep it closed," Trump told Republicans at the White House.

He pointed to a continuing resolution (CR) passed in the House of Representatives with bipartisan support, insisting that it should be enough to restore government operations.

"It's a great bill. We don't need any more," he said, calling on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and the Senate Democrats to vote for a "clean," CR and reopen the government.

"It’s got to be reopened right now," he stressed.

Trump warned that the shutdown is already having serious consequences for Americans, citing disruptions to air travel and growing financial strain on federal employees.

"We've already seen the impacts of the dangerous game that they're playing. Democrats are causing delays in our air traffic control system,” he said. “Over 1 million federal workers right now are going unpaid. That's the Democrats' fault.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune blamed Democrats for what has become the longest full government shutdown in US history.

"This is the fourth week of the Democrat shutdown, but we are all here today because your Republican team in the Senate is unified," he said after Trump.

Thune reiterated that Republicans will keep bringing forward measures to restore government funding and expressed hope that Democrats would soon agree to end the stalemate.

"Let's hope that the Democrats get wise and starting, perhaps even today, vote to reopen the government so we can get back to work for the American people," he added.

Republicans and Democrats continue to accuse each other of obstructing progress on reopening the government.

'Republicans want to shut the government down to avoid discussing the health care issue'

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer criticized Republicans for what he called a refusal to engage in meaningful negotiations to end the impasse and address pressing national issues.

"Now it's day 21 of Donald Trump's government shutdown, and while millions of Americans are feeling the squeeze, as I said, the House remains on vacation, and Senate Republicans, they're headed to the White House today, not for negotiations, not to work on any path out of a shutdown or to avert a health care crisis, but for a rose garden pep rally with Donald Trump," Schumer said on the Senate floor.

He argued that Republicans are using the shutdown as a tactic to avoid substantive discussions on issues like rising costs, inflation and health care -- matters he said are at the top of mind for the American public.

"What do Americans care about most? Costs, inflation, health care, the very things the Republicans here in the Senate and in the House are refusing to address because they want to shut the government down to avoid discussing the health care issue and having a serious negotiation about it," he said.

House Speaker Mike Johnson blamed Democrats for the shutdown, and accused them of playing "dangerous political games."

"Welcome everybody. Day 21 of the Democrat shutdown. It's now three weeks, three weeks since the Democrats have decided to close the entire federal government," Johnson told reporters on Capitol Hill.

"So far, with this shutdown has caused to the economy and to the people of this country is really unconscionable. The US economy has now lost hundreds of billions of dollars," he said, urging Democrats to vote on a House-passed "clean" continuing resolution.

The shutdown began Oct. 1 after a breakdown in negotiations on federal spending priorities. Thousands of federal workers have since been furloughed, or working without pay, while government services have been curtailed or suspended.