Senate GOP Rejects Dems’ Offer to End Shutdown

Congressional Republicans roundly rejected Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s “compromise” offer to end the government shutdown after 38 days, accusing Democrats of “holding the entire country hostage” as President Trump demanded they keep working through the weekend.

In a floor speech Friday, Schumer (D-NY) called for a “clean, one-year extension” of Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies set to expire at the end of this year.

The extension through Dec. 31, 2026, would have been appended to a stopgap funding bill that if passed, would have allowed time to negotiate longer-term government appropriations through Sept. 30, 2026.

“After so many [14] failed votes, it’s clear we need to try something different,” argued the Brooklyn Democrat, flanked by members of his conference. “What the Senate is doing isn’t working for either party — and isn’t working for the American people.”

“Democrats would like to see an end to the shutdown — and we want to respect [Senate Majority] Leader [John] Thune’s desire not to negotiate on ACA until after the government reopens,” Schumer went on, adding that his offer was “not a negotiation,” but “an extension of current law.”

The minority leader went on to call for the creation of “a bipartisan committee that will continue negotiations after the government reopens on reforms ahead of next year’s enrollment period, to provide long-term certainty that health care costs will be more affordable.”

“We need Republicans to just say, ‘Yes,’” Schumer concluded.

It didn’t take long for GOP lawmakers and aides in both chambers of Congress to respond with a resounding “no.”

“I think it’s an indication that they’re feeling the heat, and they know that their last proposal was unserious and unrealistic,” Thune told reporters, “so I guess you could characterize that as progress, but I just don’t think that it gets anywhere close to what we need to do here.”

Had the Senate taken up Schumer on his offer, the bill would have had to pass the House of Representatives before going to Trump’s desk to reopen the government.

“This is a nonstarter for the Republican Study Committee,” responded Rep. August Pfluger (R-Texas), who serves as chairman of the largest group of House GOP lawmakers.

“This is an absurd offer from Chuck Schumer,” added the conservative House Freedom Caucus.

“Senate Democrats are now saying they’ll ONLY agree to reopen the government if we extend the temporary COVID Obamacare subsidies for health insurance companies.

“They’re holding the entire country hostage to protect their failing health care scheme and enrich insurance companies, while funding abortion, child sex changes, and exacerbating fraud — all while families go without paychecks,” they added.

Friday evening, Trump insisted in a Truth Social post that Republicans should either reach “a Deal to end the Democrat Shutdown” or “terminate the Filibuster” — which Thune has rejected.

Schumer’s proposal came on the 38th day of the federal shutdown — now the longest in US history.

Traditional Democratic constituencies, including the largest unions representing federal employees and air traffic controllers, have called for an end to the shutdown by passing the Republican-backed so-called “clean” continuing resolution.

Senate Democrats later Friday also blocked a GOP bill, backed by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), to compensate federal workers who have missed at least two pay periods.

Sens. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) and John Ossoff (D-Ga.) joined Republicans, but the 53-43 vote wasn’t enough to break the filibuster.

The shutdown began on Oct. 1 after all but three Senate Democrats blocked that bill, which would have funded the government at current levels until Nov. 21.

Lawmakers have refused to advance the legislation no fewer than 14 times, keeping it from clearing the Senate’s 60-vote filibuster.

Republicans hold a narrow 53-47 majority in the upper chamber.

Earlier this week, Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) demanded a White House meeting with President Trump to negotiate an end to the shutdown — after an earlier sitdown yielded no results.

“The president’s position has not changed,” a White House official told The Post Friday. “He has repeatedly made clear he is only open to discussing policy with the Democrats when they reopen the government and stop holding the American people hostage.”

Thune and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) have taken the same line in response to Democrats’ demands regarding health care subsidies. Both have also needled Dems for suggesting that the shutdown has given their party “leverage.”

“I think there will be some pretty substantial damage to a Democratic brand that has been rehabilitated if on the heels of an election, in which the people told us to keep fighting, we immediately stop fighting,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) told Punchbowl News Thursday.

“If we surrender without having gotten anything and we cause a lot of folks in this country who had started to believe in the Democratic Party to retreat again, I worry that it will be hard to get them back up off the mat in time for next fall’s election cycle.”

“Even Democrats admit it: their party doesn’t care about chaos at the airports. They don’t care about families going hungry. They don’t care about our troops missing paychecks,” Johnson fumed in an X post Friday.

“All they care about is protecting their political brand. Just pathetic.”