**Government Shutdown Set to Become Longest in History as Impasse Continues**
*WASHINGTON (AP)* — The government shutdown is poised to become the longest ever this week, as the impasse between Democrats and Republicans drags into a new month. Millions of people face the loss of food aid benefits, health care subsidies are set to expire, and few substantial negotiations are underway to end the stalemate.
President Donald Trump stated in a Sunday interview that he “won’t be extorted” by Democrats who demand negotiations to extend the Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies, which are set to expire at the end of the year for millions of Americans. Echoing congressional Republicans, Trump told CBS’s *60 Minutes* that he will only negotiate once the government reopens.
His comments signal that the shutdown could continue for some time. Federal workers, including air traffic controllers, are set to miss additional paychecks, and there is uncertainty over whether the 42 million Americans who depend on federal food aid will continue to receive assistance.
### Senate Democrats Demand Negotiations Before Reopening
So far, Senate Democrats have voted 13 times against reopening the government without first securing negotiations. They insist that President Trump and Republicans must negotiate with them before moving forward.
President Trump criticized Democrats, saying they “have lost their way” and predicted they would eventually yield to Republicans. “I think they have to,” Trump said. “And if they don’t vote, it’s their problem.”
He also repeated his call for Republican leaders to change Senate rules and eliminate the filibuster. Senate Republicans have consistently rejected this idea since Trump’s first term, emphasizing the importance of the 60-vote threshold to prevent policies they oppose when in the minority.
“Republicans have to get tougher,” Trump said. “If we end the filibuster, we can do exactly what we want.”
### Shutdown Approaches Record Length
With both parties at a deadlock, the shutdown—now in its 33rd day and approaching its sixth week—looks set to become the longest in American history. The previous record was the 35-day shutdown from December 2018 to January 2019, which ended after Trump backed down on his demand for funding a U.S.-Mexico border wall.
### A Potentially Decisive Week Ahead
Trump’s push to end the filibuster has caused some tension within the Republican Senate leadership. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and many Republican senators prefer to maintain the current rules and continue negotiations aimed at reopening the government.
Republicans are optimistic that some moderate Democrats might eventually side with them. These moderates have been engaged in talks with rank-and-file Republicans over possible compromises that could guarantee votes on health care in exchange for reopening the government. Republicans need five additional Democratic votes to pass their proposal.
“We need five with a backbone to say we care more about the lives of the American people than about gaining some political leverage,” Thune said from the Senate floor before leaving Washington for the weekend.
Virginia Senator Tim Kaine (D) told ABC’s *This Week* that discussions are ongoing about “a path to fix the health care debacle” along with a Republican commitment not to fire more federal workers. However, it remains unclear if these talks will yield a meaningful compromise.
### Deep Division Over Obamacare Subsidies
In the *60 Minutes* interview, Trump called the Affordable Care Act—commonly known as Obamacare—“terrible” and said that if Democrats agree to reopen the government, “we will work on fixing the bad health care that we have right now.”
Democrats strongly disagree. They contend that the ACA marketplaces are functioning well, with record numbers of Americans signing up for coverage. However, they want to extend the subsidies first enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic to prevent premium increases for millions starting January 1.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said last week, “We want to sit down with Thune, with [House Speaker Mike] Johnson, with Trump, and negotiate a way to address this horrible health care crisis.”
### Lack of Bipartisanship Stalls Progress
Despite ambitious calls for negotiation from Democrats, President Trump has shown little interest in working with them. After returning from a trip to Asia during the shutdown, he again called for ending the Senate filibuster.
White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt reiterated this position on *Sunday Morning Futures*. However, a spokesman for Senator Thune said his stance remains unchanged, and Speaker Johnson recently defended the filibuster as a protection against what he called “the worst impulses of the far-left Democrat Party.”
Trump told *60 Minutes*, “I like John Thune, I think he’s terrific. But I disagree with him on this point.”
Meanwhile, the president has mocked Democrats publicly, sharing videos of House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries wearing a Mexican sombrero, and creating a satirical “My Space” webpage on the White House website parodying Democrats based on the popular early-2000s social media platform.
“We just love playing politics with people’s livelihoods,” the page reads.
Democrats continue to call on Trump to take the shutdown seriously and engage in negotiations. Virginia Senator Mark Warner expressed hope that the shutdown could end “this week” with Trump back in Washington. “Republicans can’t move on anything without a Trump sign-off,” he told CBS’s *Face the Nation*.
### Immediate Effects: Airport Delays and SNAP Crisis
The previous record shutdown ended amid mounting transportation delays and missed paychecks for federal workers. Currently, transportation authorities report increasing flight delays and staffing shortages at major airports.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told ABC’s *This Week* that delays have already materialized at several airports and will only worsen. He described the difficult choices many federal employees face: “Do I put food on my kids’ table, do I put gas in the car, do I pay my rent or do I go to work and not get paid?”
New York City’s emergency management department announced on Sunday that Newark Airport was under a ground delay due to “staffing shortages in the control tower,” limiting arrivals. “The average delay is about 2 hours, and some flights are more than 3 hours late,” the department tweeted. It warned that a full ground stop could occur if staffing issues persist or demand increases.
### SNAP Benefits at Risk
Also caught in the shutdown crossfire are the 42 million Americans who rely on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. The Department of Agriculture planned to withhold $8 billion in payments starting Saturday until federal judges intervened and ordered the administration to continue funding the program.
House Democratic Leader Jeffries accused Trump and Republicans of “weaponizing hunger,” noting that the administration has found ways to fund other priorities during the shutdown but has been slow to disburse SNAP payments despite court orders.
“But somehow they can’t find money to make sure that Americans don’t go hungry,” Jeffries said on CNN’s *State of the Union*.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, appearing on CNN Sunday, said the administration is awaiting guidance from the courts. “The best way for SNAP benefits to get paid is for five Democrats to cross the aisle and reopen the government,” he said.
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*Associated Press writer Aamer Madhani contributed to this report.*
https://ktar.com/national-news/government-shutdown-could-become-longest-ever-as-trump-says-he-wont-be-extorted-by-democrats/5769281/
