Morning Note

The United States federal government officially entered a partial shutdown on Wednesday after the midnight funding deadline passed without the Senate reaching a deal. 

Democrats sunk an earlier GOP attempt to pass a short-term extension of fiscal year 2025 government funding levels, complaining that the majority sidelined them throughout negotiations. The bill, which would have given Congress until November 21st to set FY 2026 funding priorities, passed the House largely along party lines last month. In addition to their anger over being excluded, Democrats pushed for an extension of Obamacare subsidies that became enhanced during the COVID pandemic but are set to expire at the end of 2025.

Both parties are blaming each other for failing to reach a deal, with the Trump administration accusing Democrats of having an “untenable posture,” and liberals like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez saying the shutdown is happening because the president wants to “make sure that kids are dying.”

The last government shutdown began in 2018 and lasted a record 35 days.

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