Federal government shutdown grinds into a second week, but quiet talks emerging

WASHINGTON (AP) — Tours at the Capitol have come to a standstill. The House is keeping its doors closed, while the Senate is stuck in a loop of failed votes on a rejected plan to reopen the government. As the government shutdown enters a second week, there's no discernible endgame in sight.

“You have to negotiate,” Sen. Bernie Sanders, the independent from Vermont, argued late into the evening on the Senate floor. “That's the way it works.”

But no negotiations, at least publicly, are underway.

The Republicans, who have majority control in Congress, believe they have the upper hand politically, as they fend off Democratic demands to quickly fund health insurance subsidies as part of any plan to end the shutdown.

But so have Democrats dug in, convinced that Americans are on their side and blaming Trump for the shutdown.

Behind the scenes, though, signs of discomfort are apparent.

A loosely formed collection of senators, Republicans and Democrats, have bantered about options for addressing the health insurance problem. One, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, has offered her own plans.

Two prominent Republicans, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, have said something must be done to stop the health insurance rate hikes.

And Trump himself signaled he was open to negotiating with Democrats over their demands to save health care subsidies.

“I spoke to the president at length yesterday about that very thing,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said about his Monday conversation with Trump. “And yes, he wants to solve problems.”

At its core, the debate is over the health care issue that has tangled Congress for years, and in particular, the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, that Trump tried, and failed, to repeal and replace during his first term at the White House.

Congress increased the federal subsidies that help people purchase private insurance policies on the Affordable Care Act exchanges during the COVID-19 pandemic. The federal aid was popular, and it boosted ACA enrollment to a record 24 million people. Those enhanced subsidies are set to expire at year's end.

Republicans say Congress can deal with the health insurance issue in the months ahead. Democrats are fighting to resolve the problem now, as people are receiving notices of higher policy rates for the new year.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, the Republican from South Dakota, has said there may be a path forward — once the government reopens.

“We were always planning to have those discussions,” said Johnson, R-La.

The Senate is expected to try again on Wednesday to advance the House GOP’s bill, but it is expected to fail again.

Each side has dug in, convinced they’re on the right side of the shutdown fight, in part because that’s what their internal data shows.

Over the weekend, Senate Democrats were briefed on information suggesting their health care messaging was resonating with voters. The memo from Senate Majority PAC was circulated to House Democrats and campaigns nationwide on Tuesday, with a clear directive: hold the line.

“It would be a mistake to take the pressure off Republicans,” the memo says.

Republicans, meanwhile, are sticking to their own playbook. A memo from the House GOP’s campaign arm urged candidates to focus on the shutdown’s economic impact, including a district-level breakdown of who would be affected by a government shutdown.

Each side has framed the shutdown fight as a precursor to the 2026 midterm elections.