This week, as the government shutdown passes the 35-day, setting a record for longest shut down in history, little progress has been made in resolving the impasse. Senate Democrats are demanding that Congress address Affordable Care Act subsidies now before they will support a Continuing Resolution (CR) to fund government operations. Republicans are insisting on opening the government before addressing other issues.
The House remains in recess having been out of session for 46 days. The outcome of this week's elections in New York City, California, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Virginia, could impact the future of the budget discussions.
Punchbowl news reports that, although ongoing talks are very fragile at this point and there’s still a long way to go, some discussions of a potential deal are starting to take shape. Punchbowl reports that Senate Majority Leader Thune is proposing that, in exchange for a vote to open the government, he would support a vote by a date-certain on extending the expiring Obamacare subsidies. A date-certain vote on Obamacare subsidies creates another new deadline and allows time to craft a bill that could win enough GOP support.
The second element under discussion involves pairing the stopgap funding bill to open the government with a package of three funding bills likely to pass with other guarantees to consider full-year appropriations bills on an agreed-upon timeline. Such a compromise could be appealing to enough democrats to get the needed 8 votes to pass the Senate.
Neither President Trump nor speaker Mike Johnson have weighed in on such a compromise. However, as the impacts of the shutdown are beginning to felt by the electorate in a variety of ways, including air traffic control caused plane delays as we get closer to the Thanksgiving holiday, increased pressure is being applied to all parties involved in the negotiations.