The Senate for a second day in a row rejected rival measures to fund the government, prolonging the shutdown that began at midnight.
Wednesday’s votes mirrored Tuesday’s results, with two Democrats and Sen. Angus King (I-Vt.), who caucuses with Democrats, voting for the GOP legislation.
There were few signs of progress in terms of ending the shutdown, though a handful of senators were holding talks on the Senate floor during votes.
Meanwhile, Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought told House Republicans to expect layoffs in the coming days, a source familiar told The Hill. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt later warned that mass firings are “imminent” in a presser alongside Vice President Vance.
Earlier Tuesday, labor unions filed suit to try to prevent job actions beyond traditional furloughs, calling the threat “not only illegal – it’s immoral and unconscionable.”
Here’s what else to know about the shutdown:
- Are national parks open during the shutdown?
- Does it impact student loan borrowers or the FAFSA?
- Did Democrats vote for the GOP funding bill?
Follow along here for updates all day.
White House dismisses majority of National Council on the Humanities: Report
The White House dismissed the majority of the National Council on the Humanities Wednesday.
Just four of the 26 members remain on the council’s website: Russell Berman, Keegan Callanan, William English and Matthew Rose, The Washington Post reported. All four were appointed by President Trump.
When reached for comment, a White House official told The Hill, “the work of the National Council on the Humanities is important to the President and his vision for the country. The President is hoping to place members on the board who align more closely with his vision.”
Democratic leaders hold firm in face of mass firing threat: ‘Cruelty is the point’
House Democratic leaders are holding firm in opposition to the Republicans’ spending bill, brushing aside new threats from the Trump administration to use the shutdown to advance mass firings of federal workers and drastic cuts to programs Democrats hold dear.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said the threats — aired on Wednesday by Trump’s budget chief, Russell Vought — are merely a continuation of the president’s efforts to gut the federal government, which began the day he was sworn in.
With that in mind, Jeffries warned that Democrats won’t cave to GOP demands to support the current spending bill, since they don’t view a new round of layoffs or cuts to federal programs as unique to the shutdown.
“These are all things that the Trump administration has been doing since Jan. 20,” Jeffries told reporters in the Capitol.
White House plays Jeffries video in briefing room
The White House began playing on a loop the 14-second, AI-generated video Trump posted on social media on Tuesday night of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) with a sombrero and a handlebar mustache.
The video features AI-images of Trump as members of a mariachi band playing in the background. The screens also displayed a separate AI-generated video of Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).
Jeffries has called the videos Trump has posted of him racist. Vice President Vance earlier in the day called the videos “funny.”
“You can negotiate in good faith while also poking a little bit of fun at some of the absurdities of the Democrats’ positions,” Vance said.
Senators gone for the day
Senators have left the Capitol for the day.
Congress will not be in session Thursday to observe the Jewish high holiday of Yom Kippur. Senators are slated to vote on government funding again on Friday.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) also said he expects weekend votes on averting a shutdown.
White House embraces government shutdown
The White House is embracing the fight over the first government shutdown since 2019, viewing it as a political loser for Democrats and an opening to unilaterally advance its own policy interests.
President Trump and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russ Vought have signaled they plan to use the shutdown to further slash the federal workforce and potentially pare back government programs and benefits.
While some polling has shown many Americans will hold Republicans – who control both chambers of Congress and the White House – responsible for the shutdown, administration officials and their allies have spent weeks framing Democratic demands around additional healthcare spending as unreasonable and out of step with the public.
“It’s obviously a Democratic shutdown, just look at the vote totals in the House, look at the vote totals in the Senate and look at the President of the United States’ own action and conduct throughout this crisis,” Vice President Vance said in a rare appearance in the White House briefing room, blaming the result on the “Chuck Schumer-AOC wing” of the Democratic Party.
Trump delays threatened 100 percent tariffs on drugs
The Trump administration is holding off on its threatened 100 percent tariffs on drugmakers that aren’t building facilities in the U.S., with officials saying the new tax is still being prepared.
President Trump said on his Truth Social platform last week that, “Starting October 1st, 2025, we will be imposing a 100% Tariff on any branded or patented Pharmaceutical Product,” unless the drugmaker is in the process of building a manufacturing plant in the U.S.
This announcement gave companies less than a week to prepare for a significant added tax on their imported products. Supply chain experts were left scratching their heads over the mechanics of how this policy would be enforced.
With the federal government shut down, it’s unclear whether the necessary federal employees are on the job to enforce this rule.
The administration also indicated on Monday that they would be offering some grace in terms of enforcement.
Washington Post editorial board warns Democrats walking into ‘shutdown trap’
The editorial board of The Washington Post is warning that progressive Democrats are leading the party into a “shutdown trap.”
In an article published Wednesday morning, the board noted that Democrats “shut off any potential escape valve to avoid a shutdown” when Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), facing a left-wing revolt, apparently backed off a potential plan to buy more time for negotiations.
“In doing so, progressives embraced the same disastrous mentality that led the House Freedom Caucus to believe it could come out ahead in previous government funding standoffs: They wrongly assumed their political leverage would withstand the ensuing fallout,” the board wrote.
Trump signals bailout for soybean farmers hit by tariff war
President Trump on Wednesday said he planned to use money brought in from tariffs on imports to provide aid to soybean farmers who have been hurt by a trade dispute with China.
“The Soybean Farmers of our Country are being hurt because China is, for ‘negotiating’ reasons only, not buying,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “We’ve made so much money on Tariffs, that we are going to take a small portion of that money, and help our Farmers.”
Farmers of crops like soybeans and corn have had difficulty selling their harvest and have grappled with rising prices for supplies like fertilizer.
The U.S. has in the past been the No. 1 supplier of soybeans to China, but China recently purchased a massive soybean crop from Argentina.
Maine Democrat blames ‘far-left’ for government shutdown
Democratic Rep. Jared Golden (Maine) criticized “far-left groups” for demanding Democrats vote against a Republican-backed proposal to fund the government.
“This government shutdown is the result of hardball politics driven by the demands far-left groups are making for Democratic Party leaders to put on a show of their opposition to President Trump,” Golden said in a Wednesday statement.
Golden was the lone Democrat to vote for the GOP funding bill, which passed the House 217-212 on Sept. 19 and would have funded the government through Nov. 21.
DC federal court pumps brakes on Trump policy legal fights amid shutdown
The U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday pumped the brakes on lawsuits challenging Trump administration policies amid the government’s shutdown, citing its own need to preserve resources while the funding impasse persists.
The court’s chief judge James Boasberg issued a standing order extending upcoming deadlines in litigation involving the federal government past the shutdown’s end. The order does not extend to instances where the challenger is seeking emergency relief.
Why is there a government shutdown?
Lawmakers failed to reach an agreement to fund the federal government by midnight on Tuesday night, triggering a shutdown on Wednesday. At the heart of the deadlock are health insurance subsidies.
Vought says $8B in green funds are being canceled
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought said on social media that the Trump administration will be canceling $8 billion in green funds — but did not say what the money would have otherwise gone toward.
“Nearly $8 billion in Green New Scam funding to fuel the Left’s climate agenda is being cancelled,” Vought said in a post on X.
He said that the canceled projects would be in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont and Washington — almost all of which are Democrat-led.
Vought did not provide any specifics as to which projects are canceled, but said more information would come from the Energy Department.
That Department recently announced a cancellation of $13 billion in green funding that had been unobligated.
The Hill has reached out to the Energy Department and OMB for more information.
NTSB to only carry out “emergency-essential work” during shutdown
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will only conduct “emergency-essential work to preserve life and property” during the government shutdown, the agency announced Wednesday.
In a post on the social platform X, the NTSB said it will still investigate and deliver reports on transportation accidents, preserve evidence at the scene of accidents, test property related to an accident, provide assistance to those impacted by accidents and conduct “minimal non-emergency functions without which the functions above cannot be accomplished.”
According to its website, the NTSB also conducts safety studies, decides appeals of enforcement actions by the Federal Aviation Administration and Coast Guard, and advocates for safety recommendations.
Based on the agency’s shutdown contingency plan released Tuesday, 107 employees are expected to be furloughed — just more than a quarter of the total NTSB workforce. Those remaining will work without pay until the shutdown ends.
Vance backs Hegseth’s grooming rules but will keep his beard: ‘I get to do what I want’
Vice President Vance said he can have a beard in his current role, but that he was clean-shaven while in the military, defending Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for declaring soldiers have to shave their facial hair.
Hegseth told the U.S. military’s senior-most officers Tuesday that he no longer wants to see “fat generals and admirals” or overweight troops. He also said, “If you want a beard, you can join special forces. If not, then shave.”
“I didn’t see that particular comment, I thought Pete gave a hell of a speech. And a speech that really is just oriented around returning the American military to the very high standards it has had for virtually its entire history until [former President] Joe Biden came along and decided to lower standards. I think it was bad for our military and it was bad for our troops,” Vance said Wednesday at the White House about Hegseth’s comments in Quantico, Va.
Rank-and-file senators in both parties seek breakthrough on shutdown
Senate centrists in both parties are trying to put together a deal to reopen the federal government.
A group of them huddled on the Senate floor Wednesday afternoon, after Democrats voted for the second time in two days to block a House-passed stopgap funding measure.
Three members of the Democratic caucus voted for the House-passed continuing resolution, but five more Democrats would need to support it to reopen the federal government.
Senate Republicans control 53 seats and need 60 votes to pass a government funding measure. They need eight Democratic votes because Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) doesn’t want to continue the current funding levels.
Additional Democratic centrists may support the resolution if they are given strong assurances from Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) that he will move a bill later this year to extend enhanced health insurance premium subsidies that expire at the end of the year.
Leavitt: Federal government layoffs ‘imminent’
Leavitt said the layoffs of federal workers during the government shutdown will be in “two days, imminent, very soon.”
“It’s not unclear; all of those things are very synonymous with one another. These RIFs [reductions in force] are unfortunately going to have to happen very soon,” she said when pressed on the timeline.
Leavitt addresses Trump’s post on ‘medbed’ conspiracy
The press secretary defended a social media post from over the weekend that Trump has since deleted that featured an AI-generated video alluding to a medical technology conspiracy theory.
Leavitt was asked about a video shared by Trump on Truth Social that featured a fake Fox News segment about “medbeds,” a conspiracy theory alleging there is a cure-all technology being used by powerful people and being kept hidden from the public.
“I think the president saw the video and posted it, and then took it down. He has the right to do that,” Leavitt said, arguing it was “refreshing” to have a president who shared his thoughts so transparently.
Why the monthly jobs report won’t be released this week
Policymakers, investors, businesses and government officials are eager for the latest look into the slowing U.S. job market.
But they won’t be getting it until well after the federal government reopens.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics, the agency responsible for calculating the monthly jobs report, is one of dozens of government agencies unable to operate during the government shutdown, which began Wednesday, with no end in sight.
Schumer says he’s encouraged by bipartisan talks among rank and file
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) told reporters Wednesday that he feels encouraged by the bipartisan talks taking place among rank-and-file senators.
A group of Senate centrists were spotted huddling on the chamber floor after a vote to reopen the government failed.
“It’s a good thing that Democrats and Republicans are talking,” he said. “We’ve always believed that Democrats and Republicans should sit down and negotiate.”
Schumer said he’s spoken to Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) since the government shut down at midnight Wednesday.
Democratic leaders bash Trump and Hegseth over ‘unhinged’ speech to generals
House Democratic leaders let loose on Pete Hegseth on Wednesday, hammering the Defense secretary over directives to the nation’s generals urging an end to “woke” policies at the Pentagon and a return to “male standards” on the battlefield.
Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) characterized Hegseth’s speech, delivered Tuesday at the Quantico Marine base in Northern Virginia, as “shameful, chaotic [and] unhinged.”
“We can go down the litany of terrible ideas and policy positions that the secretary mentioned,” Aguilar, the chair of the House Democratic Caucus, told reporters in the Capitol. “By the way, [he’s] the most unqualified secretary of Defense that this country has ever seen. So it’s hard to take him serious.”
Nearly 90 percent of EPA furloughed as government shuts down
About 89 percent of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) workforce is being furloughed as the government shuts down, according to contingency plans posted online this week.
According to the plan, just 1,734 of the EPA’s 15,166 employees are slated to continue working in the shutdown, which began Wednesday.
Click here to read more.
Leavitt: BLS nominee didn’t have votes for confirmation
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that the president’s nominee to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics, E.J. Antoni, was not going to have the votes needed for confirmation in the Senate.
“E.J. remains a great ally of the president and our team. It became clear, unfortunately, he was not going to have the votes,” Leavitt said, adding that a replacement nominee would be announced “very soon.”
The White House pulled Antoni’s nomination Tuesday night.
Vance: Schumer ‘terrified’ of primary challenge from Ocasio-Cortez
Vice President Vance argued Wednesday that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-N.Y.) actions around a government shutdown were influenced by concern that he could face a primary challenge from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y).
Vance addressed reporters from the White House briefing room on the first day of a government shutdown spurred by a clash between Senate Democrats and their Republican counterparts over demands on health care funding.
“The reason why the American people’s government is shut down is because Chuck Schumer is listening to the far-left radicals in his party, because he’s terrified of a primary challenge,” Vance said.
Cuomo uses AI ad to depict himself driving subway, on floor of NYSE
New York City mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo (D) used AI to depict himself driving the subway, working as a stagehand and standing on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in his first advertisement of the general election.
“I’m Andrew Cuomo, and I could pretend to do a lot of jobs,” Cuomo says in the 30-second spot, as an AI-generated version of the former New York governor, who is running as an independent after losing the Democratic primary, is depicted performing various roles.
“But I know what I know, and I know what I don’t know. And I do know how to make government work,” he continued, adding, “There are a lot of jobs I can’t do, but I’m ready to be your mayor on day one.”
The mid-six-figure ad buy, which is set to air on broadcast, cable, streaming and social media, features a disclaimer over the AI portions, noting “this political communication was created with the assistance of artificial intelligence.”
Vance defends Trump videos targeting Jeffries
The vice president laughed off a question about AI-generated videos posted by President Trump depicting House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) wearing a sombrero.
“Oh, I think it’s funny. The president’s joking, and we’re having a good time,” Vance said. “You can negotiate in good faith while also poking a little bit of fun at some of the absurdities of the Democrats’ positions.
Vance said he would make a pledge to Jeffries that if he helped to reopen the government, “the sombrero memes will stop.”
The vice president added that he didn’t know what Jeffries meant when he called the video racist.
Vance: Democrats won’t be targeted in federal government layoffs
Vance said Democrats won’t be targeted by the mass layoffs at the federal government during the shutdown.
“We’re not targeting federal agencies based on politics. We’re targeting the peoples’ government so that it’s as much as possible of the essential services can continue to function,” Vance said. “We’re going to have to lay people off. … That is the reality of the government shutdown that Chuck Schumer and the Democrats have hoisted upon the administration.”
In the OMB memo last week, agencies were directed to “use this opportunity to consider reduction in force (RIF) notices for all employees in programs, projects, or activities” under three conditions.
That includes discretionary funding that lapsed Wednesday, if another source of funding isn’t available and if the programs, projects, or activities are not “consistent with the president’s priorities.” In order to consider firing, all conditions must be met.
Vance predicts shutdown won’t be ‘that long’
Vance, while speaking to reporters at the press briefing, said he think the shutdown won’t be long, suggesting Democrats will cave.
He was asked if this will be a long shutdown and responded, “I don’t know. I can’t predict what congressional Democrats are going to do.”
“But, I actually don’t actually think its going to be that long of a shutdown. This is a pure guess from the vice president of the United States. Because I think you already saw from evidence that moderate Democrats are cracking a little bit. They understand the fundamental illogic of this,” the vice president added.
Vance joins for White House briefing
Vice President Vance joined for the scheduled press briefing at the White House to discuss the administration’s position on the government shutdown.
Vance has emerged as a key voice for the White House in the hours since the shutdown began, appearing on CBS, Fox News and other media outlets Wednesday.
Just before Vance entered, an aide affixed the vice presidential seal to the podium, hinting at his previously unannounced appearance.
Vought tells Republicans layoffs coming in a few days
Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought told House Republicans that layoffs of federal workers through the reduction in force process will be coming in a few days, according to a source on the call, saying Democrats have forced his hand.
Senators huddle on floor in search of shutdown off-ramp
A large group of senators convened on the floor during votes Wednesday in a push to find a way to end the government shutdown, which went into effect hours earlier.
According to lawmakers, the discussions were spur of the moment and ballooned into a larger group. They included alternative short-term funding ideas and potentially extending Affordable Care Act subsidies in some form.
Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) said members were “spitballing” ideas.
“This is us … randomly just getting together and spitballing and seeing if we could come just some kind of consensus, and then I think a lot of us would then go back to our leadership and then go from there,” he said.