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WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump accused “kamikaze” Democrats of being prepared to destroy the country as the government shutdown became the longest in history on Wednesday, eclipsing the 35-day record set during the Republican leader’s first term.
Federal agencies have been grinding to a halt since Congress failed to approve funding past September 30, and the pain has been mounting as welfare programs — including aid that helps millions of Americans afford groceries — hang in the balance.
Some 1.4 million federal workers, from air traffic controllers to park wardens, remain on enforced leave or are working without pay. Some courts are using emergency funds to stay open, and warning that operations could slow if the shutdown drags on.
“I just got back from Japan,” the Republican president told a breakfast meeting with Republican senators at the White House as the shutdown entered its sixth week.
“I talked about the kamikaze pilots. I think these guys are kamikaze,” he said, referencing Democrats. “They’ll take down the country if they have to.”
Hours before the shutdown record toppled at midnight, the Trump administration sounded the alarm over turmoil at airports nationwide if the crisis drags further into November, with worsening staff shortages snarling airports and closing down sections of airspace.
“So if you bring us to a week from today, Democrats, you will see mass chaos...you will see mass flight delays,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told a news conference in Philadelphia.
“You’ll see mass cancelations, and you may see us close certain parts of the airspace, because we just cannot manage it because we don’t have the air traffic controllers.”
The American Automobile Association (AAA) says 5.3 million passengers flew domestically over the Thanksgiving weekend in 2023, and gave a projected figure of 5.7 million for last year’s holiday, which it expects to update later this month.
More than 60,000 air traffic controllers and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers are working without pay, and the White House has warned that increased absenteeism could mean chaos at check-in lines.
Airport workers calling in sick rather than working without pay — leading to significant delays — was a major factor in Trump bringing an end to the 2019 shutdown.
Both Democrats and Republicans remain unwavering, however, over the main sticking point in the current stoppage — health care spending.

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Democrats say they will only provide votes to end the funding lapse after a deal has been struck to extend expiring insurance subsidies that make health care affordable for millions of Americans.
But Republicans insist they will only address health care once Democrats have voted to switch the lights back on in Washington.
While both sides’ leadership have shown little appetite for compromise, there have been signs of life on the back benches, with a handful of moderate Democrats working to find an escape hatch.
A separate bipartisan group of four centrist House members unveiled a compromise framework Monday for lowering health insurance costs.
Democrats believe that millions of Americans seeing skyrocketing premiums as they enroll in health insurance programs for next year will pressure Republicans into seeking compromise.
But Trump has held firm on refusing to negotiate, telling CBS News in an interview broadcast Sunday that he would “not be extorted.”
The president has sought to apply his own pressure to force Democrats to cave by threatening mass layoffs of federal workers and using the shutdown to target progressive priorities.
Trump on Tuesday repeated his administration’s threat to cut off a vital aid program that helps 42 million Americans pay for groceries for the first time in its more than 60-year history, even though the move was blocked by two courts.
The White House later clarified, however, that it was “fully complying” with its legal obligations and was working to get partial SNAP payments “out the door as much as we can and as quickly as we can.”

Pressure on his Republican party mates

Trump also lashed out at Senate Republicans as his demands for them to get rid of the filibuster as a way to end the shutdown complicated an already difficult situation.

“It’s time for Republicans to do what they have to do, and that’s terminate the filibuster,” Trump said during a breakfast meeting Wednesday with GOP senators at the White House.

Trump told the GOP senators they could bring the shutdown to a close by ending the Senate rule, which requires a 60-vote threshold for advancing most legislation, and steamroll the Democratic minority. Republicans now hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate, and Democrats have been able to block legislation that would fund the government, having voted more than a dozen times against.

That push from Trump is likely to go unheeded by Republican senators — Senate Majority Leader John Thune said later changing the filibuster does not have support and is “not happening” — but it could spur them to deal with the Democrats.

Another shutdown record

Trump’s approach to the shutdown stands in marked contrast to his first term, when the government was partially closed for 35 days over his demands for money to build the US-Mexico border wall. At that time, he met publicly and negotiated with congressional leaders. Unable to secure the money, he relented in 2019.
This time, Trump stayed out of the shutdown debate, instead keeping a robust schedule of global travel and events, including at his private Mar-a-Lago club in Florida. And it’s not just Trump declining to engage in talks. The congressional leaders are at a standoff, and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., sent lawmakers home in September after they approved their own funding bill, refusing further negotiations.
A “sad landmark,” Johnson said at a news conference Wednesday about the record shutdown.
The speaker dismissed his party’s election losses and said Democrats need to drop their demands on health care until after the government reopens.
Senators search for deal as shutdown fallout worsens
While talks have intensified among a loose coalition of centrist senators trying to negotiate an end to the shutdown, Democrats are also doubtful that any deal struck with the Republicans will be upheld unless Trump also agrees.
The Democrats said Trump's postelection unease with the shutdown should spark talks. But they also question whether the Republican president will keep his word, particularly after the administration restricted SNAP food aid despite court orders to ensure funds are available to prevent hunger.
And while moderate Democrats are quietly working toward an offramp, progressive Democrats are holding out for the best deal possible.
“It would be very strange for the American people to have weighed in, in support of Democrats standing up and fighting for them, and within days for us to surrender without having achieved any of the things that we’ve been fighting for,” said Sen. Chris Murphy.
In the meantime, food aid, child care money and countless other government services are being seriously interrupted. Hundreds of thousands of federal workers have been furloughed or expected to come to work without pay.
“Can this be over now?” Thune, R-S.D., said as he returned from the White House breakfast. “Have the American people suffered enough?”
Skyrocketing health insurance costs at issue
Central to any resolution will be a series of agreements that would need to be upheld not only by the Senate, but also by the House, and the White House, which is not at all certain.
Senators from both parties are pushing to ensure the normal government funding process in Congress can be put back on track, eyeing a smaller package of bills that has widespread support to fund various aspects of government such as agricultural programs and military construction projects at bases.
More difficult, a substantial number of senators also want some resolution to the standoff over the funding for the Affordable Care Act subsidies that are set to expire at year’s end.
With insurance premium notices being sent, millions of people are experiencing sticker shock on skyrocketing prices. The loss of enhanced federal subsidies, which were put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic and come in the form of tax credits, are expected to leave many people unable to buy health insurance.
Republicans are reluctant to fund the health care program, also known as Obamacare, without changes, but negotiating a compromise with Democrats is expected to take time, if a deal can be reached at all.
Thune has promised Democrats at least a vote on their preferred health care proposal, as part of any deal to reopen government. But that’s not enough for some senators, who see the health care deadlock as part of their broader concerns with Trump’s direction for the country and want assurance it will be resolved.