Government shutdown could become longest ever as Trump says he ‘won’t be extorted’ by Democrats

WASHINGTON AP The leadership shutdown is poised to become the longest ever this week as the impasse between Democrats and Republicans has dragged into a new month Millions of people stand to lose food aid benefits strength care subsidies are set to expire and there are minimal real talks between the parties over how to end it President Donald Trump commented in an interview aired on Sunday that he won t be extorted by Democrats who are demanding negotiations to extend the expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies Echoing congressional Republicans the president declared on CBS Minutes he ll negotiate only when the authorities is reopened Trump mentioned Democrats have lost their way and predicted they ll capitulate to Republicans I think they have to Trump declared And if they don t vote it s their complication Trump s comments signal the shutdown could drag on for particular time as federal workers including air traffic controllers are set to miss additional paychecks and there s uncertainty over whether million Americans who receive federal food aid will be able to access the assistance Senate Democrats have voted times against reopening the administration insisting they need Trump and Republicans to negotiate with them first The president also reiterated his pleas to Republican leaders to change Senate rules and scrap the filibuster Senate Republicans have repeatedly rejected that idea since Trump s first term arguing the rule requiring votes to overcome any objections in the Senate is vital to the institution and has allowed them to stop Democratic policies when they re in the minority Trump commented that s true but we re here right now Republicans have to get tougher Trump stated CBS If we end the filibuster we can do exactly what we want With the two parties at a standstill the shutdown now in its th day and approaching its sixth week appears likely to become the longest in history The previous record was set in when Trump demanded Congress give him money for a U S -Mexico limit wall A potentially decisive week Trump s push on the filibuster could prove a distraction for Senate Majority Leader John Thune R-S D and Republican senators who ve opted instead to stay the curriculum as the consequences of the shutdown become more acute Republicans are hoping at least several Democrats will eventually switch their votes as moderates have been in weekslong talks with rank-and-file Republicans about likely compromises that could guarantee votes on strength care in exchange for reopening the ruling body Republicans need five additional Democrats to pass their bill Thune recounted reporters Monday that he was optimistic that the Senate could vote to reopen the leadership by the end of the week But he also added If we don t start seeing selected progress or certain evidence of that by at least the middle of this week it s hard to see how we would finish anything by the end of the week Virginia Sen Tim Kaine a Democrat mentioned on ABC s This Week on Sunday there s a group of people talking about a path to fix the vitality care debacle and a commitment from Republicans not to fire more federal workers But it s unclear if those talks could produce a meaningful compromise Far apart on medical care subsidies Trump stated in the Minutes interview that the Affordable Care Act often known as Obamacare because it was signed and championed by then-President Barack Obama is terrible and if the Democrats vote to reopen the administration we will work on fixing the bad soundness care that we have right now Democrats feel differently arguing that the marketplaces set up by the ACA are working as record numbers of Americans have signed up for the coverage But they want to extend subsidies first enacted during the COVID- pandemic so premiums won t go up for millions of people on Jan Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer reported last week that we want to sit down with Thune with House Speaker Mike Johnson with Trump and negotiate a way to address this horrible fitness care situation No appetite for bipartisanship As Democrats have pushed Trump and Republicans to negotiate Trump has presented little interest in doing so He called for an end to the Senate filibuster after a trip to Asia while the cabinet was shut down White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt commented on Fox News Channel s Sunday Morning Futures that the president has spoken directly to Thune and Johnson about the filibuster But a spokesman for Thune disclosed Friday that his position hasn t changed and Johnson commented Sunday that he believes the filibuster has traditionally been a safeguard from far-left policies Trump commented on Minutes that he likes Thune but I disagree with him on this point The president has spent much of the shutdown mocking Democrats posting videos of House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries in a Mexican sombrero The White House website is now featuring a satirical My Space page for Democrats a parody based on the social media site that was popular in the early s We just love playing politics with people s livelihoods the page reads Democrats have repeatedly disclosed that they need Trump to get serious and weigh in Virginia Sen Mark Warner disclosed that he hopes the shutdown could end this week because Trump is back in Washington Republicans can t move on anything without a Trump sign off Warner noted on Face the Nation on CBS Record-breaking shutdown The -day shutdown that lasted from December to January ended when Trump retreated from his demands over a confines wall That came amid intensifying delays at the nation s airports and multiple missed paydays for hundreds of thousands of federal workers Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy revealed on ABC s This Week that there have already been delays at several airports and it s only going to get worse A multitude of of the workers are confronted with a decision he disclosed 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 As flight delays around the country increased New York City s emergency management department posted on Sunday that Newark Airport was under a ground delay because of staffing shortages in the control tower and that they were limiting arrivals to the airport The average delay is about hours and several flights are more than hours late the account posted SNAP situation Also in the crossfire are the million Americans who receive SNAP benefits The Department of Agriculture planned to withhold billion needed for payments to the food plan starting on Saturday until two federal judges ordered the administration to fund it The Trump administration indicated in court Monday that it will only partially fund SNAP this month by using a billion crisis fund That left the scheme in uncertainty with no clear indication of how much beneficiaries will receive or when their cards will be loaded to buy groceries House Democratic leader Jeffries D-N Y accused Trump and Republicans of attempting to weaponize hunger He revealed that the administration has managed to find means for funding other priorities during the shutdown but is slow-walking pushing out SNAP benefits despite the court orders But somehow they can t find money to make sure that Americans don t go hungry Jeffries noted in an appearance on CNN s State of the Union Associated Press writer Aamer Madhani contributed to this statement Source