Trump open to talks with Democrats as government shutdown drags on
Washington, Oct 7 (IANS/WISHAVWARTA) The US government shutdown entered its sixth day, with President Donald Trump indicating he’s ready to negotiate with Democrats.
In a Truth Social Post, Trump said, “I am happy to work with the Democrats on their Failed Healthcare Policies, or anything else, but first they must allow our Government to re-open.”
Earlier in the day, while speaking to the media, Trump asserted that said “negotiations on health care are underway with Democrats.”
“We are speaking with the Democrats, and some very good things could happen with respect to healthcare,” he added.
The Republicans have accused Democrats of demanding healthcare subsidies for illegal immigrants, which the Democrats reject as a lie peddled by the Trump administration.
Democrats say they are asking to reverse the healthcare cuts for American citizens in the “Big Beautiful Bill,” which was passed earlier this year.
Meanwhile, a vote in the Senate was defeated again on Monday as both sides continued to blame each other for the prolonged crisis.
While the Republicans control both the Senate and the House of Representatives, they are eight votes short in the Senate, as the funding bill requires 60 votes to pass.
The White House continued to threaten the firing of federal workers while walking back on US President Donald Trump’s statement on Sunday that the administration had already started removing federal employees.
Karoline Leavitt, the White House Press Secretary, said on Monday that the “Office of Management and Budget is continuing to work with agencies on who, unfortunately, is going to have to be laid off if this shutdown continues.”
In a post on Truth Social last week, Trump called the shutdown an “unprecedented opportunity.”
About 750,000 federal workers have been furloughed, while many others have been forced to work without pay.
Since the beginning of the shutdown, the administration has frozen $26 billion for 16 Democratic-leaning states, including $18 billion for transit projects in New York.
About 750,000 federal workers have been furloughed, while many others have been forced to work without pay.
Essential services such as border protection, law enforcement and air-traffic control continue to function for now, while food assistance programmes, government-funded pre-school, food inspectors and operations at national parks could be adversely affected soon.
Military and civilian staff are not being paid during the shutdown, as around 13,000 air traffic controllers are working without pay. The DoT has halted additional activities like hiring and training of air traffic controllers.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced on Monday that a federal program to subsidise air travel to rural areas would run out of funds by the end of the week if the shutdown persists.
“There are many small communities across the country that will now no longer have the resources to make sure they have air service in their communities,” Duffy said.
If the shutdown is extended over a long period, air travel could face challenges as many of those workers would be forced to work without pay and may not report for duty.
Around two-thirds of the employees of the National Park Service, the federal agency that manages national parks, have been furloughed during the shutdown, affecting tourist sites such as caves in Carlsbad Caverns National Park and Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona and White Sands National Park in New Mexico.
In Washington, DC, the Library of Congress, the National Archives Museum, the Washington Monument and the National Arboretum have been shut, and tours of the Capitol Building and the Pentagon have been suspended.
The Smithsonian Institution’s museums and National Zoo in Washington announced last week that they would remain open to the public until October 11.
This is the first US government shutdown in seven years, as the last one happened under Trump 1.0 and lasted for 35 days – the longest in history.
