Group of Dems Continue To Side With Republicans, Want Govt. Reopened
A previously united front of Democratic opposition in the U.S. Senate began to break this week as three Democrats crossed party lines to back a Republican proposal aimed at reopening the federal government.
The shutdown, now in its seventh day, is nearing the point when federal workers will begin missing paychecks, intensifying pressure on both parties to reach an agreement before furloughed employees face financial hardship.
As recently as Monday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) had urged his caucus to “fight” to preserve Affordable Care Act subsidies, which Republicans have proposed addressing in separate legislation.
Ongoing gridlock has so far prevented Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) from securing the 60 votes required to advance a short-term government funding measure. However, signs of potential compromise emerged Tuesday when Sens. John Fetterman (D-PA), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), and Angus King, a Maine Independent who caucuses with Democrats, continued to side with Republicans in supporting a clean spending plan, Politico reported.
Several rounds of voting have produced a 55–45 outcome, leaving Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) still five votes short of the 60 needed to advance the funding measure.
Fetterman has backed the Republican plan since the first vote on the proposal was held on September 19.
“Shutting our government down isn’t a ‘game.’ Democrat or Republican, regardless of the reason— America loses. ‘Blame’ is on anyone that picks party over country,” Fetterman said on X on Friday.
That same day, Cortez Mastro said Republicans “need to come to the negotiating table and fix the health care crisis they’ve created.”
However, on Tuesday, the Nevada Democrat explained why she changed her stance, saying her party “should not be swapping the pain of one group of Americans for another.”
And though her party is responsible for blocking passage of a clean spending bill, thereby reopening the goverment, she nevertheless tried to pin it on President Donald Trump and Republicans.
“President Trump and Congressional Republicans are already hurting Nevadans who are dealing with high costs, an economic slowdown, and a looming health care crisis. This administration doesn’t care about Nevadans, but I do,” she wrote on X.
“That’s why I cannot support a costly shutdown that would hurt Nevada families and hand even more power to this reckless administration. We need a bipartisan solution to address this impending health care crisis, but we should not be swapping the pain of one group of Americans for another,” she claimed.
Tuesday’s vote was the first time that King has sided with the GOP, a vote he said was “one of the most difficult” he has made since being in the Senate.
“I did not want to hand Donald Trump and Russell Vought and Stephen Miller additional power to decimate the federal government, to decimate the programs that are so important to so many people,” King said in a video posted to X.
Meanwhile, the sole Republican to oppose the spending bill, unsurprisingly, is Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky.
On Tuesday, as the shutdown continued, Trump set a deadline for when his administration would begin implementing cuts to federal workers and programs if the ongoing government shutdown is not resolved.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Trump said that if the shutdown continues for four to five more days, his administration could move forward with mass layoffs and reductions across multiple federal agencies.
“How many permanent jobs are you talking about eliminating?” a reporter asked Trump during an Oval Office meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.
“I’ll be able to tell you that in four or five days. If this keeps going on, it’ll be substantial, and a lot of those jobs will never come back,” Trump responded. “You’re going to have a lot closer to a balanced budget.”
The reporter also questioned Trump about any programs he wished to cut during the shutdown.
“Oh, sure. We have a lot, I’m not going to tell you, but we’ll be announcing it pretty soon. But we have a lot of things that we’re going to eliminate and permanently eliminate,” Trump said.
Trump Warns Iran of ‘Total Obliteration’ if They Try To Harm Him HH
President Donald Trump warned Iran that continued assassination threats made by leaders in Tehran would be met with the country getting “blown up” and “total obliteration.”
“Well, they shouldn’t be doing it but I’ve left notification,” Trump said. “Anything ever happens, we’re going to blow the whole — the whole country’s going to get blown up.”
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Biden-era Intelligence officials briefed Trump about the alleged threats against him during his presidential campaign in 2024. Former Attorney General Merrick Garland said the plot was retaliation for the killing of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani by the U.S. in 2020, during Trump’s first administration.
Despite being briefed by his administration, Trump on Tuesday said President Biden “should have said something” on the matter, adding that presidents should defend each other on such matters.
“But I have very firm instructions,” Trump continued. “Anything happens, they’re going to wipe them off the face of this earth.”
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Trump also spoke about the ongoing negotiations between the United States and Iran in Geneva.
“What are you expecting from these Iran talks in Geneva?” a reporter asked Trump aboard Air Force One.
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“So, I’ll be involved in those talks indirectly, and they’ll be very important. We’ll see what can happen. Typically, Iran’s a very tough negotiator; they’re good negotiators — or bad negotiators. I would say they’re bad negotiators because we could have had a deal instead of sending the B2s to knock out their nuclear potential. We had to send the B2s. I hope they’re going to be more reasonable. They want to make a deal,” Trump said.
“Have you been told that a deal is next to impossible?” the reporter followed up.
Trump replied, “No. I think they want to make a deal. I don’t think they want the consequences of not making a deal. They want to make a deal.”
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Trump previously said that he instructed officials to destroy Iran if they killed him.
The president said this after signing an executive order right after taking office that gave him all the tools he needed to talk to Iran’s government and put as much pressure on Tehran as possible.
“They haven’t done that and that would be a terrible thing for them to do,” Trump said at the time. “Not because of me — if they did that, they would be obliterated. That would be the end. I’ve left instructions, if they do it, they get obliterated, there won’t be anything left. And, they shouldn’t be able to do it.”
Trump warned last week that the United States could send additional warships toward Iran if ongoing diplomatic negotiations fail to produce a deal, signaling that military pressure could increase as talks over Tehran’s nuclear program stall.
In remarks to Axios, Trump said the administration is considering deploying a second aircraft carrier strike group to the region in addition to the USS Abraham Lincoln and 9 additional warships already positioned near Iran, though he expressed hope that a diplomatic agreement can still be reached.
“Either we will make a deal or we will have to do something very tough like last time,” the president told Axios on Tuesday, a reference to the bombing of three Iranian nuclear sites in June.
“Last time they didn’t believe I would do it. They overplayed their hand,” Trump added. “We have an armada that is heading there and another one might be going.”
The president emphasized that the United States is seeking to persuade Iran to curb its nuclear ambitions, halt the development of its ballistic missile program, and end support for militant proxy groups. Iranian officials have so far resisted expanding negotiations beyond nuclear-related issues.
He described the nuclear issue as a “matter of course” part of any negotiation, but also insisted that an agreement with Iran must also address Tehran’s ballistic missile stockpiles, per Axios.
Trump said the US “can make a great deal with Iran,” and Tehran “very much wants to make a deal.”
Trump’s comments came ahead of a planned visit to Washington, D.C. by Benjamin Netanyahu, who is expected to press for a tougher U.S. stance and broader terms for any Iran deal that would include constraints on Tehran’s missile capabilities and regional activities.
Before heading to DC, the Israeli leader previewed some of what he and Trump were going to discuss.
“I will present to the president our understanding of the principles of the negotiations (with Iran) – the essential principles that are important not only to Israel – but to everyone who wants peace and security in the Middle East,” Netanyahu told reporters, per the New York Post.
The administration has already bolstered its military presence in the Middle East, with multiple warships and aircraft deployed as a means of deterrence and leverage.
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