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- By Jeffrey Howard
- 13 Jan 2026
US lawmakers have once again been unable to approve spending proposals to reopen the national government, prolonging the present shutdown into the coming week.
Two separate spending proposals - proposed by the Democrats and another from Republicans - failed to reach the necessary 60-vote threshold.
As parties gridlocked, the executive branch on the weekend said it would be confronted by the "unenviable task" of mass lay-offs to continue critical federal operations functioning if the impasse extends.
Both conservative and liberal lawmakers have dug in their heels on the key area of conflict: health insurance. Democrats have hoped to capitalise on the impasse to secure medical coverage assistance for people earning low-income do not expire and overturn past cuts to the Medicaid system.
Conservative legislators, alternatively, have repeatedly alleged Democrats of shutting down the federal operations in a attempt to provide healthcare to illegal immigrants - a charge that opposition officials have rejected.
Some 54 Senators voted in favour of a Republican-led measure to support the federal operations, with 44 opposed and two absent.
Different, opposition-backed measure also failed, with 45 approving and 52 opposed.
"Financial effects of this closure are growing each day," she noted, stating that $15 billion in GDP could be forfeited each week as joblessness grows.
Administration officials have consistently vowed to terminate federal workers if the shutdown extends, and recently the national leader posted that he would meet with the director of the Office of Management and Budget to assess "various organizations" that ought to be eliminated.
The White House has not specified any specifics or timeline for possible lay-offs or reductions to agencies.
Within the federal government's response to the shut down, the budget office on Friday revealed the freezing of over two billion dollars in government development financing for the Windy City, in combined with the prior halting of $18 billion in infrastructure funding in the Big Apple and the termination of roughly eight billion dollars in support for national utility projects in various liberal-led jurisdictions.
On the Senate floor, the Democratic leader said that the opposition are battling the medical coverage issue because "we're confident Americans want this".
"Furthermore numerous of my conservative colleagues support this as well," he stated. "However inaction would be devastating, and conservatives realize it."
Several Democratic lawmakers - featuring lawmakers from NY and PA - said they wish to hear directly from the president about the persisting impasse.
Noting a cross-party immigration measure that the national leader eventually denied previously, they said they worry that any negotiations with GOP lawmakers could finally be undermined by the executive.
Early polls have shown that US citizens are strongly divided on the shutdown, with an contemporary study administered on October 1st discovering that 47% of American citizens blame Republicans, compared to 30% who fault Democrats.
A further 23% said they were undecided.
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