Government shutdown continues into next week, White House highlights risk of layoffs
As the United States reached the third day of the government shutdown, Republican and Democratic lawmakers once again failed to secure the necessary votes to reopen federal operations, Kazinform News Agency correspondent reports.
Today’s Senate vote to advance a Republican bill that would have reopened the government failed on a 54–44 tally, falling short of the 60 votes required. With lawmakers still at an impasse over healthcare subsidies, the shutdown is expected to continue into next week.
Democrats are pushing for an extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies, while Republicans insist the government must first be reopened before addressing additional demands. GOP leaders maintain that Democrats will ultimately need to accept the House-passed bill, which funds operations at current levels until November 21.
Earlier in the day, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt briefed reporters on the impacts of the shutdown, highlighting three main areas of concern: military families going unpaid, risks to low-income households and air traffic controllers, and potential economic losses. She cited estimates from the Council of Economic Advisers projecting losses of up to $15 billion in GDP per week.
“All we need are five Democrat senators to do the right thing and stop this shutdown,” Leavitt said. She added that the Office of Management and Budget is working with the administration to “identify where cuts can and, unfortunately, have to be made,” referring to possible layoffs if the shutdown continues as discussed earlier by Vice President JD Vance.
The Senate is not expected to reconvene over the weekend, and the House has closed for legislative business until further notice. As reported earlier, the shutdown began on October 1 after Congress failed to pass legislation to extend funding.
