US Senate fails 11th time to end shutdown

The Senate on October 20 marked the 11th failed attempt to advance a House-approved bill aimed at funding the government and resolving the ongoing shutdown, according to CBS News.

The measure has consistently fallen short of the 60 votes required to proceed in every vote since the shutdown started 20 days ago, with no immediate indications that this pattern will shift.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune is set to introduce a bill this week that would compensate federal employees and military personnel who have kept working amid the funding gap. Passing the legislation would necessitate Democratic backing, after they blocked a long-term defence spending bill from moving forward last week.

The House is anticipated to stay out of Washington this week, as Republican leaders continue to place the onus on the Senate to restart government operations. The House has not held a vote since September 19. Speaker Mike Johnson stated he would reconvene the House if the Senate approved payments for federal workers and military members, though he expressed scepticism about that outcome.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright announced that the National Nuclear Security Administration — responsible for managing the nation's nuclear stockpile — initiated furloughs for the "large majority" of its staff on Monday, while "mission-critical" personnel will stay on duty.

The shutdown, which commenced on October 1, has now become the longest full government shutdown in U.S. history and the third-longest overall when accounting for partial shutdowns. Should it persist beyond October 21, it will exceed the 21-day shutdown of 1995-96 to secure second place. Only the 35-day partial shutdown in Donald Trump’s first term, spanning December 2018 to January 2019, has endured longer.

White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett speculated on Monday, drawing from “friends in the Senate,” that the deadlock could soon be resolved.

“I think the [Senate Minority Leader Chuck] Schumer shutdown is likely to end sometime this week,” Hassett remarked during a CNBC interview. He attributed the delay to some Democrats' hesitation to reopen the government prior to last Saturday’s No Kings protests against Trump, which mobilised millions of demonstrators across the nation to condemn corruption and authoritarianism.

By Tamilla Hasanova