Congress leaders continued to indicate their fingers to each other as time approached a deadline of 12:01 am on Wednesday so that the Government closes if Congress cannot approve a measure to finance it.
The leader of the majority of the Senate, John Thune, at a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, said the Democrats had voted for continuous resolutions to keep the government funded 13 times when they were the majority.
“The question of what has changed is raised. And I think what has changed is that President Trump is in the White House. That’s what it is about politics and there is no substantive reason why there should be a government closure.”
Republicans are pressing a continuous “clean” resolution that would keep the government financed until mid -November after approving one in March that led the government until the end of the fiscal year.
The leader of the majority of the Senate, John Thune, speaks during a press conference, after the lunch of the Republican Police of the Senate, hours before a partial closure of the government will enter into force, in Capitol Hill in Washington, on September 30, 2025.
Alex Wroblewski/AFP through Getty Images
But the Democrats are waiting for an agreement that would restore $ 1 billion in Medicaid cuts approved this summer in addition to a permanent extension of the Obamacare subsidies that will expire at the end of the year, saving health insurance for 3.8 million people at a cost of $ 350 billion during the next decade, according to the Congress budget office.
The leader of the Senate minority, Chuck Schumer, remained firm in his belief that Republicans will own this closure for refusing to negotiate with Democrats in medical care priorities.
“They call it clean, we call it extremely partisan. Not a discussion, house or Senate, between the two leaders. This is not how negotia and that is not how you approval appropriation invoices,” Schumer said on the Senate floor on Tuesday morning.
The Republicans of the House of Representatives approved a stop measure to maintain the open government until November 21, the stagnant measure in the Senate, where Thune will need at least seven democrats to vote to approve.
Republicans developed a seven -week clean financing bill to create more time for Congress appropriators to work in regular order: 12 Financing bill throughout the year separately. The Congress has not approved the 12 allocation bill through a regular order since 1997, and the task has been completed only four times since 1977 when the current budget rules entered into force.
Thune is expected to force the Senate to vote repeatedly in the Clean Financing Law of seven weeks of the Chamber. Its objective is to force the Democrats to cast repeated votes against financing the Government.
But Senate Democrats seemed unlikely to vote with Republicans to approve the continuous resolution.
“I have never seen the most unified and resolved Democratic senators,” said Connecticut Democratic Senator Richard Blucenthal. “We are absolutely determined that this marked clock will not dissuade us to save American medical attention. Literally, these are real lives, diseases that cannot wait for a so -called CR, an extension of continuous resolution financing. They can filibuse many things, but not the people who get sick, and particularly children who need care.”
The Democratic Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois said that Monday’s meeting at the White House with President Donald Trump and the leaders of the Congress of both parties was a lost opportunity to avoid a closure.
“I think it was an opportunity that was lost. The White House meeting was an opportunity for legislative leaders with the president to avoid a government closure, and there was no follow -up,” Durbin said. “We have not had a meeting at the leadership table to talk about finishing this. It happened yesterday at the White House, but there is no follow -up.”
Meanwhile, Trump seemed to hesitate on Tuesday on whether there would be a closure while continuing to drive false statements about what the Democrats want in the Financing Law.
“Nothing is inevitable, but I would say that it is probably probable, because they want to provide medical attention to illegal immigrants, which will destroy medical care for everyone else in our country. And I did not see them bend a little when I said, we cannot do that,” Trump said in the Oval office.
But later he said: “We are not closing it. We do not want it to go out because we have the greatest period of time. I told you that we have $ 17 billion inverted. So the last person who wants to close is us.”
Trump said the Democrats were “risky” by not supporting the continuous clean resolution of the Republicans, “due to closing, we can do medically and other forms, including benefits. We can reduce large amounts of people. We don’t want to do that, but we don’t want fraud, waste and abuse.”
ABC News confirmed last week that the White House had alerted the agencies to prepare for permits before a possible closure of the government and also threaten the massive shots that could become permanent if a closure is not avoided.
When asked if he thought it was appropriate to say goodbye to federal workers during a closure, said Republican Senator Lindsey Graham: “I think it could reduce federal workforce and probably not harm the results.”
Trump seemed open to more discussions the earliest Tuesday when he returned from a speech to generals and admirals with the head of the Pentagon Pete Hegseth. When asked if he would talk to the Democrats before the deadline, Trump replied: “Yes.”
The minority leader of the House of Representatives, Hakeem Jeffries, flanked by representative Pete Aguilar and the representative Katherine Clark talks about the steps of the Capitol, in Washington, on September 30, 2025.
J. Scott Applewhite / AP
On early Tuesday, 150 Democrats from the House of Representatives joined on the steps of the Chamber, presenting the unit while each party tries to blame a period of funds.
The minority leader of the House of Representatives, Hakeem Jeffries, programmed Democrats, addressing a Deepfake video generated by the artificial intelligence shared Monday night by President Donald Trump, which belittled Jeffries and the leader of the Chuck Schumer Senate minority.
“Mr. President, allow me to reintroduce me,” Jeffries said, citing the opening letters of the “public service announcement” of Jay-Z and receiving a strong round of applause from Caucus. “I am the democratic leader of the House of Representatives. Our Caucus is 217 strong members. We serve in a separate and coual branch of the Government. We do not work for you. We work for the American people.”
In the publication on its social media platform, Trump shared the video he presented to the Chuck Schumer and Jeffries Senate minority leader during his comments at the White House after meeting with Trump and republican leaders, but called Schumer saying derogatory things about his party.
The video also showed Jeffries wearing a hat, which led Jeffries to call him “intolerant.”
“Mr. President, the next time he has something to say about me, do not send a video of racist and false. When he is back in the oval office, tell him to the face!” Jeffries booming.
Jeffries abruptly criticized the House Republicans for canceling the votes this week.
“It is a shame to be on vacation throughout the country and worldwide on the eve of a government closure,” he said. “They are on vacation because they prefer to close the government than to protect the medical attention of the American people. That is unfathomable, that is unacceptable, that is inconceivable, and that is not American. Do your work.”
Johnson published Tuesday morning that Schumer and the Democrats are “planning to close the government, simply to oppose President Trump and appease his extreme left base.”
Isabella Murray, Hannah Demissie and Emily Chang of ABC News contributed to this report.
