Government shutdown drags on as both parties remain entrenched in standoff

An expected sixth vote to reopen the government did not come to fruition Tuesday, but lawmakers face a new problem: the possibility of furloughed employees not being paid.

The government shutdown has entered its seventh day, and both Republicans and Democrats in the Senate remain at odds over the path forward, with no clear, real end in sight. The Senate was expected to vote on the GOP plan again, but no agreement was reached to put the bill, along with Democrats’ counterproposal, before the chamber.

Both parties also remain firm in their positions. Senate Democrats want to reach a firm deal on extending expired ObamaCare tax credits to win their votes to reopen the government, while Senate Republicans have promised that negotiations on appropriations can take place once the government is open again.

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President Donald Trump gestures to a reporter in the Oval Office of the White House, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025, in Washington. (Alex Brandon/The Associated Press)

President Donald Trump listens during a news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the State Dining Room of the White House, Monday, September 29, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Lawmakers failed to take a sixth vote to reopen the government on Tuesday as a new White House memo warned that furloughed workers may not get paid.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck SchumerThe New York Democratic representative continued to intensify his messages that Americans broadly support their efforts, and blamed House Speaker Mike Johnson, Republican of Los Angeles, and House Republicans for not attending the session as a major obstacle to progress.

“Hundreds of thousands of federal workers have been furloughed, and thousands more are working without pay. Meanwhile, House Republicans are getting paid and not working,” Schumer said. “So federal workers are working and not getting paid. House Republicans are paying their salaries and not working. It’s too bad. It’s too bad for them. The picture is too bad for them.”

As lawmakers traded barbs and debated exiting Capitol Hill, the latest memo from the White House was first reported By AxiosHe noted that up to 750,000 non-essential federal workers may not receive their wages.

The memo adds new uncertainty for hundreds of thousands of federal employees caught in the political crossfire.

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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., is standing firm on his and Senate Democrats’ blockade of President Donald Trump’s nominees as Senate Republicans move toward changing the nuclear rules. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

When asked if it was the White House’s position on whether federal employees should be paid, Pres Donald Trump “I would say it depends on who we’re talking about,” he said.

“I can tell you this,” Trump said. “The Democrats have put a lot of people in great danger, but it really depends on who you’re talking about. But for the most part, we’re going to take care of our people. There are some people who really don’t deserve to be taken care of, and we’re going to take care of them in a different way.”

Many lawmakers had only just learned of the memo as of Tuesday afternoon. She suggested that a 2019 law signed by Trump guaranteeing back wages to furloughed workers in future shutdowns may not need to be followed.

“I just heard that,” said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito. “My phones are lighting up.”

When asked whether the memo hurt or helped the talks, she said: “It could become more urgent, and it could upset a lot of people.”

Sin. Tom Tillis” The memo “probably wasn’t a good message to send right now to people who aren’t getting paid.”

“I’m not a lawyer, but I think just saying that kind of thing is a bad strategy,” Tillis said. “We have a lot of people working hard on the sidelines now because Democrats put them there.”

Sen. Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, said she believed that issue had been settled with the 2019 law, but as a “precaution,” Congress could pass a bill allowing any “liabilities incurred during the shutdown” to be paid.

Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, said that regardless of the memo, the law says “shall.”

“I left my law degree in the car, but the ‘should’ is relatively clear,” he said. “I guess it doesn’t matter at all, because we’re fighting for health care.”

The latest methods of pressure on Democrats in the Senate It comes after the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) directed in a previous memo that mass layoffs may be on the horizon beyond typical furloughs during the shutdown.

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Majority Leader Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., speaks with reporters near his office on Capitol Hill, Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Maryam Zohaib)

It also comes after Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought announced that nearly $30 billion in federal funding is set to be withheld from blue cities and states.

Both Johnson and the Senate Majority Leader John ThuneRD, wanted to see federal workers get paid, but maintained that the problem would go away if Schumer and Senate Democrats reopened the government.

“My assumption is that furloughed workers will get paid,” Thune said. “But still, this is very simple. Open the government and it’s not a problem. We don’t have to have this conversation. Everyone gets paid when the government is open.”

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On the other hand, previous tactics have not succeeded in getting Democrats to back down from their position, and so far have not killed talks between either side.

But Senator Jeanne Shaheen, who was one of Senate Democrats’ main interlocutors in the bipartisan talks, said Vaught’s actions did not help matters.

“The situation would be much easier to resolve if Ross Foote stopped talking,” Shaheen said.