Shutdown begins as Congress, Trump fail to reach a deal

The federal government has shut down after Democrats and Republicans failed to find compromise and pass a stop gap funding measure.

The shutdown happened at 9:01 p.m. Pacific time after Democrat and Republicans remained at an impasse on competing measures to fund the government Tuesday evening.

President Donald Trump said Tuesday a shutdown was likely, echoing similar comments from Vice President JD Vance in a Monday press conference. Both sides were blaming each other for the likely shutdown.

What is the standoff about?

House Republicans passed a measure to fund the government until Nov. 21, but Democrats have refused to back the spending bill in an effort to force Republicans to negotiate on health care spending. Democrats are pushing for an extension to Affordable Care Act tax credits that have subsidized health insurance for millions of people since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Some Republicans have expressed willingness to extend the credits but say they need changes first, and they argue that the government should be funded first.

Romina Boccia, director of budget and entitlement policy at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, said there is more time to negotiate to extend the tax credits since the credits don’t expire until the end of December.

“There isn’t really any urgency to shut the government down right now, except that Democrats want to take a symbolic stance that they’re being tough on President Trump and Republicans,” Boccia told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “And ultimately, this will hurt federal government employees, including congressional staffers, who may find that they will be missing a paycheck or two depending on how long this government shutdown goes on.”

Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Nev., said there is a sense of urgency to extend the tax credits now. The credits are set to expire at the end of the year, but notices for premium increases will be sent out in the next few weeks, Horsford said.

The enrollment date for the next eligibility year is Nov. 1, so Nevada Health Link and other marketplace exchanges will send out notices about a customer’s current health care coverage, he said.

“We’re calling on our Republican colleagues to do three simple things: to cancel the cuts, to lower the cost and to save health care,” Horsford told the Review-Journal on Tuesday morning. “That’s all we’re asking for.”

It’s up to the Senate to pass a stopgap funding measure, and it requires support from at least 60 senators, including at least eight Democrats. The Senate voted on the Republicans’ measure to keep the government open and the Democrats’ counterproposal but both failed Tuesday afternoon.

The last time the government was facing a potential shutdown in March, Nevada’s U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto joined nine other Democrats in breaking a filibuster to allow a GOP funding bill to advance.

Despite the backlash she faced from her own party, Cortez Masto voted again Tuesday to keep the government open, voting in favor of both the Republican and Democratic measures.

In a statement following the vote, Cortez Masto said Trump and congressional Republicans are hurting Nevadans with “high costs, an economic slowdown, and a looming health care crisis.”

“This administration doesn’t care about Nevadans, but I do,” she said in the statement. “That’s why I cannot support a costly shutdown that would hurt Nevada families and hand even more power to this reckless administration.

Cortez Masto said there needs to be a bipartisan solution to address an “impending health care crisis,” but “we should not be swapping the pain of one group of Americans for another.”

What is the impact of a shutdown?

Approximately 750,000 federal employees are expected to be furloughed during the government shutdown, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

The shutdown will affect areas across the government, including air traffic controllers, TSA workers and national parks, Horsford said. However, Max Dotson, a spokesperson for the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, said the park “will remain open and accessible.”

Horsford said services around Medicare and Medicaid could also be affected, and individuals on disability could see a delay in payment processing.

The Trump administration also has warned that federal employees could be permanently laid off in an effort to pressure Democratic lawmakers into acquiescing in their demands.

Horsford said his website at horsford.house.gov will have updated information during the shutdown. People can ask questions through the website, and his staff will provide answers, he said.

Contact Jessica Hill at jehill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @jess_hillyeah on X. Assistant Managing Editor Carri Geer Thevenot and The Associated Press contributed to this report.