Senate returns to Washington as government shutdown nears 36-day record

The Senate returns to Washington, D.C., this week as the government shutdown nears a record milestone and lawmakers remain entrenched.

On Tuesday evening, the government shutdown will officially become the longest on record, at 36 days, breaking the previous record etched in the history books in early 2019. And as that record approaches, payroll deadlines are missed, and federal benefits dry up, the Senate is still largely in a waiting phase.

Still, some lawmakers have found new optimism as bipartisan talks intensified last week, and many hope the same momentum continues this week.

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The Senate returns to Washington, DC, with the shutdown shaping up to be the longest on record and neither side ready to dislodge their positions. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)

But for now, neither side is changing the positions they have maintained since October 1, when the lockdown officially began.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and his Democratic caucus want a deal on the expiration of Obamacare premium subsidies before agreeing to reopen the government. On Saturday, open registration officially began across the country.

They have long warned that unless a deal is reached before open enrollment, Americans who rely on the subsidies would see their premiums rise, even though the subsidies won’t expire until the end of this year.

“People are going to see drastic, very drastic, increases in their health care costs,” Schumer said last week. “People are going to sit at the table Friday night with a pit, a pit in the pit of their stomach, and say, ‘How are we going to do this?’”

BENEFITS OF FOOD STAMPS FOR 42 MILLION AMERICANS AT RISK TODAY AMID SHUTDOWN

President Donald Trump looks on as he addresses members of the media aboard Air Force One en route to Joint Base Andrews, Nov. 2, 2025. (Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters)

Senate Republicans largely agree on the need for an expansion of the subsidies, but they also want a series of reforms to the program that was improved under former President Joe Biden.

And Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has suggested Senate Democrats vote on the Obamacare subsidies, but they say that’s not enough and are demanding that President Donald Trump get involved.

Trump officially returned to the country after a nearly week-long trip to Asia, but still appears to be keeping the shutdown at bay.

While demands from Schumer and his Democratic caucus remained focused on the expiration of Obamacare subsidies, they also criticized Trump for not funding federal food aid as he did in 2019, and Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., called for a meeting with the president.

GOVERNMENT ENTERS LONGEST COMPLETE SHUTDOWN IN U.S. HISTORY WITH NO END IN SIGHT

Senate Majority Leader John Thune speaks during a news conference with Senate Republican leaders following a policy luncheon at the Capitol in Washington, October 28, 2025. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)

But Trump won’t meet with top congressional Democrats until the shutdown ends — a point he and Republicans have made repeatedly.

And he also won’t budge on health care negotiations until the government reopens.

“I’m not going to do it by being extorted by the Democrats who have lost their way,” Trump said on CBS’s “60 Minutes.” “There is something wrong with these people.”

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Meanwhile, Trump urged Senate Republicans to remove the 60-vote filibuster threshold in the upper chamber. This constitutes a proverbial third path for Senate Republicans and a long-standing priority for Senate Democrats.

He renewed that call this weekend in posts Saturday and Sunday on his social media platform Truth Social.

“Republicans, you will rue the day you didn’t end the FILIBUSTER!!! BE TOUGH, BE SMART AND WIN,” he said.