Shutdown stalemate set to drag into sixth week as Trump pushes Republicans to change Senate rules

WASHINGTON AP Republicans and Democrats remained at a stalemate on the regime shutdown over the weekend as it headed into its sixth week with food aid potentially delayed or suspended for millions of Americans and President Donald Trump pushing GOP leaders to change Senate rules to end it White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt declared Sunday that Trump has spoken to Senate Majority Leader John Thune R-S D and House Speaker Mike Johnson R-La as he has publicly and repeatedly pushed for an end to the Senate filibuster But Republicans have strongly rejected Trump s calls since his first term arguing that the rule requiring votes to overcome any objections in the Senate is vital to the institution and has allowed them to stop Democratic policies when they are in the minority Leavitt reported Sunday that the Democrats are crazed people who haven t shown any signs of budging That s why President Trump has stated Republicans need to get tough they need to get smart and they need to use this option to get rid of the filibuster to reopen the leadership and do right by the American inhabitants Leavitt mentioned on Sunday Morning Futures on Fox News Democrats have voted thirteen times against reopening the governing body denying Republicans the votes in the - Senate as they insist on negotiations to extend leadership soundness care subsidies that will be cut off at the end of the year Republicans say they won t negotiate until the authorities is reopened With the two parties at a standstill the shutdown now in its rd day appears likely become the longest in history The previous record was set in when Trump demanded that Congress give him money for a U S -Mexico limit wall A potentially decisive week Trump s push on the filibuster could prove a distraction for Thune and Republican senators who have opted instead to stay the syllabus as the consequences of the shutdown have become more acute including more missed paychecks for air traffic controllers and other establishment workers and uncertainty over the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Effort or SNAP Republicans are hoping that at least a few Democrats will eventually give them the votes they need as they hold repeated votes on a bill to reopen the governing body Democrats have held together so far but specific moderates have been in talks with rank-and-file Republicans about likely compromises that could guarantee votes on physical condition care in exchange for reopening the administration Republicans need five additional Democrats to pass their bill We need five with a backbone to say we care more about the lives of the American people than about gaining particular political leverage Thune disclosed on the Senate floor as the Senate left Washington for the weekend on Thursday Virginia Sen Tim Kaine a Democrat mentioned on ABC s This Week on Sunday that there is a group of people talking about a path to fix the healthcare care debacle and a commitment from Republicans not to fire more federal workers But it s still unclear if those talks could produce a meaningful compromise The coming week could also be crucial for Democrats as the open enrollment period for robustness care marketplaces governed by the Affordable Care Act opened Nov and people are already starting to see spikes in premium costs for the next year meaning it may be too late to make immediate changes Democrats are also watching the results of gubernatorial elections in Virginia and New Jersey on Tuesday No appetite for bipartisanship As Democrats have pushed Trump and Republicans to negotiate Trump has presented little interest in doing so He without delay called for an end to the Senate filibuster after a trip to Asia while the ruling body was shut down Leavitt mentioned Sunday that the president spoke to both Thune and Johnson about the filibuster But a spokesman for Thune declared Friday that his position hasn t changed and Johnson announced on Sunday that Republicans traditionally have resisted calling for an end to the filibuster because it protects them from the worst impulses of the far-left Democrat Party Trump s call to end it is a reflection of all of our desperation Johnson noted on Fox News Sunday Trump has spent much of the shutdown mocking Democrats posting videos of House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries in a Mexican sombrero The White House website has a satirical My Space page for Democrats a parody based on the social media site that was popular in the early s We just love playing politics with people s livelihoods the page reads Democrats have repeatedly stated that they need Trump to weigh in Virginia Sen Mark Warner disclosed that he hopes the shutdown could end this week because Trump is back in Washington Republicans can t move on anything without a Trump sign off Warner declared on Face the Nation on CBS Record-breaking shutdown The -day shutdown that lasted from December to January ended when Trump retreated from his demands over a limit wall That came amid intensifying delays at the nation s airports and multiple missed paydays for hundreds of thousands of federal workers Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy explained on ABC s This Week that there have already been delays at several airports as air traffic controllers aren t getting paid and it s only going to get worse Plenty of of the workers are confronted with a decision he noted Do I put food on my kids table do I put gas in the car do I pay my rent or do I go to work and not get paid As flight delays around the country increased New York City s urgency management department posted on Sunday that Newark Airport was under a ground delay because of staffing shortages in the control tower and that they were limiting arrivals to the airport The average delay is about hours and certain flights are more than hours late the account posted FAA planning notes show a possibility of a full ground stop later if staffing shortages or demand increases SNAP situation Also in the crossfire are the million Americans who receive SNAP benefits The Department of Agriculture planned to withhold billion needed for payments to the food project starting on Saturday until two federal judges ordered the administration to fund it House Democratic leader Jeffries accused Trump and Republicans of attempting to weaponize hunger He explained that the administration has managed to find tactics for funding other priorities during the shutdown but is slow-walking pushing out SNAP benefits despite the court orders But somehow they can t find money to make sure that Americans don t go hungry Jeffries mentioned in an appearance on CNN s State of the Union Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in his own CNN appearance Sunday disclosed the administration continues to await direction from the courts The best way for SNAP benefits to get paid is for Democrats for five Democrats to cross the aisle and reopen the establishment Bessent explained