Schumer shutdown update

As of October 26, 2025, Democrats are using the Senate filibuster to block a "clean" continuing resolution (CR) that would reopen the government amid the ongoing shutdown.

Republicans, controlling the White House, House, and Senate, have repeatedly advanced short-term funding bills at current levels (e.g., through November 21) without policy riders, but these fail to clear the 60-vote cloture threshold due to Democrat opposition.

In exchange for ending the filibuster and providing the necessary votes, Democrats are demanding concessions totaling over $1 trillion in new or protected spending, focused on health care, worker protections, and fiscal safeguards.

These demands have been outlined in Democrat counter-proposals and public statements from Democrats like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

Key demands include:
  • Extension of enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) premium subsidies: A permanent or at least one-year continuation of COVID-era tax credits for marketplace plans, set to expire at the end of 2025. This would prevent premium hikes for over 20 million low- and middle-income Americans, costing an estimated $100–200 billion annually. Democrats frame this as essential to avoid a "health care crisis" with dramatic increases in costs, co-pays, and deductibles.

  • Reversal of Medicaid cuts and protections for funding: Repeal of work requirements and other reductions from the GOP's 2025 "One Big Beautiful Bill" (a reconciliation package), plus restoration of full funding to ensure access for undocumented immigrants.

  • Restoration of federal workforce benefits and rehiring: Back pay guarantees, reinstatement for thousands affected by reductions-in-force (RIFs) during the shutdown, and a halt to further cuts.

  • Limits on executive spending rescissions and unilateral cuts: Halts to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)-led waste reductions.

  • Inclusion of broader add-ons like $500 million for public broadcasting (e.g., PBS/NPR), permanent extensions for programs like WIC/SNAP, and reversals of rescinded USAID international aid (e.g., $24.6 million for "climate resilience" in Honduras, $13.4 million for "civic engagement" in Zimbabwe).

Republicans are accusing Democrats of hypocrisy for using the filibuster they once sought to eliminate.

The GOP emphasizes that they already passed a clean CR on September 19. Minority Leader Schumer refuses to allow his Senate caucus to advance the bill to reopen the government immediately, or agree to separate talks on Democrat priorities later.
 
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