WASHINGTON: A deep impasse between Republican President Donald Trump and congressional Democrats has triggered the 15th US government shutdown since 1981.

Here’s a look at what it will take to reopen the government.

What do Republicans want?

Trump’s Republicans control both the House of Representatives and the Senate, and they have already scored big budget wins this year.

The massive legislation called the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” passed in July, boosted spending for defence and immigration enforcement, rolled back spending on green energy and other Democratic priorities, while making major cuts in the Medicaid healthcare programme for low-income and disabled people to help pay for tax cuts focused mainly on the wealthy.

Republicans also have broadly supported the White House’s efforts to claw back money that had already been approved by Congress for foreign aid and public broadcasting, even though that undermines lawmakers’ constitutional authority over spending matters.

They have said they would vote for a continuing resolution that would extend funding at current levels through November 21 to allow more time to negotiate a full-year deal.

Democrats’ demands

As the minority party, Democrats do not have much power. However, Republicans will need at least seven Democratic votes to pass any spending bill out of the Senate, where 60 votes are needed to advance most legislation in the 100-seat chamber.

This time, Democrats are using that leverage to push for renewing expanded healthcare subsidies for people who buy insurance through the Affordable Care Act.

Their proposal would make permanent enhanced tax breaks that are otherwise due to expire at the end of the year and make them available to more middle-income households.

If those tax breaks are allowed to expire, health insurance costs will increase dramatically for many of the 24 million Americans who get their coverage through the ACA, according to the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation.

The impact would be most acute in Republican-controlled states that have not expanded the Medicaid health plan for the poor.

Democrats also want language inserted into any funding bill that would prohibit Trump from unilaterally ignoring their ACA provisions or temporarily withholding funds.

They also want to roll back other restrictions on ACA coverage that were enacted in the “One Big Beautiful Bill”.

Those changes would provide health coverage for seven million Americans by 2035, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, but also increase government healthcare spending by $662 billion over 10 years.

Republicans say they are open to considering a fix for the expiring tax breaks, but say the issue should be handled separately and it was unclear whether their “fix” would differ substantially from the Democrats’.

Republicans have accused Democrats of trying to use the stopgap funding bill to open the gates for government healthcare subsidies for immigrants in the U.S. illegally.

Congressional Democrats argue that group of people living in the US is prohibited by law from receiving such help and that their legislation would not change that

WASHINGTON: Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth portrayed the US military Tuesday as too fat, too focused on leftist “woke” ideas, and in need of a major shake-up with an emphasis on being tough “war fighters.”

The speech, to an auditorium of hundreds of generals and admirals hastily called to Virginia from around the world, touted a plan for ending what the former Fox News host claimed had been “decades of decay.”

Striding across a stage in front of a giant American flag that mirrored his pocket square, Hegseth took aim at “stupid rules of engagement” on the battlefield and “fat troops” at home, calling for the military to look back to the standards of 1990 for inspiration.

He said he wanted a military focused on lethality, not racial or gender diversity, with an end to what he said were troops “walking on eggshells” over fear of complaints about behavior.

“This speech is about fixing decades of decay, some of it obvious, some of it hidden,” Hegseth told the hundreds of senior officers assembled for the highly unusual get-together.

“Foolish and reckless political leaders set the wrong compass heading, and we lost our way. We became the ´Woke Department.´ But not anymore,” he said.

Hegseth outlined various changes he wants to make as part of his efforts to reshape the military, recapping some previous announcements.

He called for the strict application of grooming standards — which includes a one-year cap on shaving waivers that are disproportionately used by Black troops — as well as for having the current highest male fitness standard apply to all combat forces.

“Standards must be uniform, gender-neutral and high — if not, they´re not standards. They´re just suggestions, suggestions that get our sons and daughters killed,” Hegseth said.

He criticised out-of-shape troops, saying: “It´s tiring to look out at combat formations, or really any formation, and see fat troops. Likewise, it´s completely unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals in the halls of Pentagon.”

´Hunt and kill´

Hegseth also said he would institute what he called the “no more walking on eggshells policy,” which entails “no more frivolous complaints, no more anonymous complaints, no more repeat complainants, no more smearing reputations.”

He specifically criticised the Pentagon inspector general — which launched an investigation into his use of the civilian messaging app Signal for classified information this year — saying the office has been “weaponised” and will be overhauled.

Hegseth said that strict rules for when force can be used — measures that are aimed at preventing civilians from being killed — are a thing of the past.

“We untie the hands of our war fighters to intimidate, demoralise, hunt and kill the enemies of our country. No more politically correct and overbearing rules of engagement, just common sense, maximum lethality, and authority for war fighters,” he said.

That approach has recently been demonstrated in the Caribbean, where the US military has killed more than a dozen people in strikes on alleged drug smugglers traveling in boats.

Trump´s administration has yet to publicly release evidence to back its claims that those targeted were smugglers or that they posed an immediate danger to the United States.

Hegseth warned that anyone not agreeing should quit.

“If the words I´m speaking today are making your heart sink, then you should do the honorable thing and resign,” he told the officers.

Trump´s administration has already purged a number of top officers this year, including chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff general Charles “CQ” Brown, who was fired without explanation in February, as well as the heads of the Navy and Coast Guard.

• Shutdown halts critical economic data, affects federal workers.
• Senate rejects spending measure, deepens partisan divide.
• Analysts warn shutdown could last longer than past closures.

WASHINGTON: The US government shut down much of its operations on Wednesday as deep partisan divisions prevented Congress and the White House from reaching a funding deal, setting off what could be a long, gruelling standoff that could lead to the loss of thousands of federal jobs.

There was no clear path out of the impasse, while agencies warned that the 15th government shutdown since 1981 would halt the release of a closely watched September employment report, slow air travel, suspend scientific research, withhold pay from US troops and lead to the furlough of 750,000 federal workers at a daily cost of $400 million.

Trump, whose campaign to radically reshape the federal government is already on track to push out some 300,000 workers by December, warned congressional Democrats that a shutdown could clear the path for “irreversible” actions, including cutting more jobs and programs.

The shutdown commenced hours after the Senate rejected a short-term spending measure that would have kept government operations afloat through November 21. 

Democrats opposed the legislation over Republicans’ refusal to attach an extension of health benefits for millions of Americans, which are due to expire at the end of the year. Republicans say the issue must be addressed separately.

At issue on the government funding front is $1.7 trillion for agency operations, which amounts to roughly one-quarter of the government’s total $7 trillion budget. Much of the remainder goes to health and retirement programs and interest payments on the growing $37.5 trillion debt.

Independent analysts warn the shutdown could last longer than the budget-related closures of the past, with Trump and White House officials threatening to punish Democrats with cuts to government programs and the federal payroll.

Trump budget director Russell Vought, who has called for “less bipartisan” appropriations, threatened permanent layoffs last week in the event of a shutdown.

Nonpartisan measure devoid of partisan policy riders

The longest government shutdown in US history stretched over 35 days during December 2018 and January 2019 during Trump’s first term in office, in a dispute over border security.

“All they want to do is try to bully us. And they’re not going to succeed,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said in a floor speech a day after a White House meeting with Trump and other congressional leaders that ended with the two parties far apart.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune described the failed short-term spending bill as a “nonpartisan” measure devoid of partisan policy riders that Democrats have had no problem accepting in years past.

“What’s changed is that President Trump is in the White House. That’s what this is about. This is politics. And there isn’t any substantive reason why there ought to be a government shutdown,” the South Dakota Republican told reporters.

Trump’s Republicans hold majorities in both chambers of Congress, but legislative rules require 60 of the 100 senators to agree on spending legislation. That means that at least seven Democrats are needed to pass a funding bill.

Focus on healthcare funding

Democrats are under pressure from their frustrated supporters to score a rare victory ahead of the 2026 midterm elections that will determine control of Congress for the final two years of Trump’s term.

The healthcare push has given them a chance to unite behind an issue that resonates with voters.

Along with the extended health subsidies, Democrats have also sought to ensure that Trump will not be able to undo those changes if they are signed into law.

Trump has refused to spend billions of dollars approved by Congress, prompting some Democrats to question why they should vote for any spending legislation at all.

University of Chicago professor Robert Pape said the unusually polarised US political climate in the aftermath of conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s assassination and the growing power on the extreme wings of both parties could make it harder for party leaders to agree on a deal to reopen the government.

“The rules of politics are radically changing and we can’t know for sure where all of this is going to end,” said University of Chicago political science professor Robert Pape, who studies political violence.

“Each side would have to backtrack against tens of millions of truly aggressive supporters, their own constituents, which is going to be really hard for them to do,” he said.

Before the shutdown, Trump reached out to his own supporters with a deepfake video showing manipulated images of Schumer appearing to criticise Democrats while top House Democrat Hakeem Jeffries stood next to him, with a crudely drawn sombrero and mustache imposed over his face.

“It was childish. It was petty,” Schumer told reporters. “It’s something that a five-year-old would do, not a president of the US. But it shows how unserious they are. They don’t give a damn about the harm they will cause with their shutdown.”