Government shutdown heads into next week

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Also in today’s special edition of “Regular Order” for October 4, 2025:

Murkowski sees a ray of hope.

House will stay on vacation for another 10 days.

Newest member of Congress still waiting to be sworn in.

CAPITOL HILL.

You should know the refrain by now. Shutdowns are dumb. Shutdowns are stupid. Shutdowns are easy to start. Shutdowns are not easy to end. And that’s where the Congress is stuck already. This is day 4 of the 2025 federal government shutdown. And I’m not sure it’s going to end anytime soon.

SENATE.

As expected, the Senate deadlocked for a fourth time on Friday, as a filibuster led by Democrats blocked action again on a House-passed temporary government funding bill. The next vote is expected on Monday.

SWITCHES.

The same Senators switched sides. Cortez Masto D-NV, Fetterman D-PA, and King I-ME all voted for the House-passed CR. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) again voted with Democrats to filibuster.

VIBE CHECK.

As Senators headed for the airport, I sure didn’t feel much reason for optimism. Yes - Senators are talking, but there didn’t seem to be much evidence that they had a viable plan to end the shutdown.

REOPEN.

GOP Senators were in unison about one thing - they aren’t going to start negotiating a deal with Democrats on anything until the government gets funded again.

TALKS.

“End the shutdown, and lots of things can fall into place,” said Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD), who has been in the middle of talks with some Democrats.

MORIARTY.

One of the few Senators to give off positive vibes about a solution on Friday was Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK). “I’m actually relatively encouraged,” Murkowski said as she was swarmed by reporters while leaving the Capitol.

LAST FRONTIER.

“I think that there’s a lot of good faith effort to try to end a shutdown that we shouldn’t be in,” Murkowski added.

LET’S MAKE A DEAL.

But some GOP Senators still seemed incredulous at the idea of giving in to Democrats on subsidies for insurance under the Obama health exchanges as part of a temporary funding deal. “What do you negotiate?” asked Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK). “It’s a clean CR.”

HISTORY.

Mullin is right. It’s much like 2013 when Republicans tried to force Democrats to accept a repeal of the Obama health law on a CR. Democrats were not amused back then.

DEMS.

As for Senate Democrats, they complained that GOP Senators aren’t engaging in real negotiations. “ If you ask our Democratic Senators, the Republicans didn’t offer anything really new, just the same old stuff,” said Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer at a news conference.

HOUSE.

I left Schumer’s news conference to go watch the quick House pro forma session on Friday afternoon - and boy, was that a good decision. It was announced that there would be no votes in the House until at least October 14 (!!!) - as Republicans say the House-passed temporary funding bill is their final offer.

BACK HOME.

“These guys are on almost permanent vacay like for real,” said Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI). “How the hell is this shutdown our fault if Republicans can’t be bothered to show up,” tweeted Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN).

FUNDING BILLS.

Call me crazy, but in the shutdowns of my youth, the House stuck around and passed funding bills for the next year. At this point, the House will have been out from September 19 to October 14. That’s a lot of wasted time.

EPSTEIN.

The House GOP decision to take another week off from legislative business also means the newest member of the House won’t be sworn in next week. Democrat Adelita Grijalva (D-AZ) was elected 10 days ago - she would also be the 218th signature on the discharge petition for the Epstein Files legislation.

I SMELL A RAT.

“They’re more concerned about preventing the release of the Epstein Files than about protecting the millions of Americans who are about to lose their healthcare,” said Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA).

ARIZONA.

“The people of Southern Arizona deserve a voice in Congress NOW,” said Grijalva, who had been in Washington this week, hoping to be sworn into office. “What are Republicans so afraid of? One more vote for accountability?”

APRIL.

Just a reminder - two House Republicans were elected on April 1 and sworn in on April 2, even though there was no legislative business in the House. One of these things is

not like the others

CAPITOL POLICE.

I’ve been through too many of these shutdowns. I feel terrible for the Capitol Police officers who are all doing their jobs - and not getting a paycheck. We say hello to them all the time as we come through the doors on Capitol Hill - but now, they want to know, when is it going to end?

END GAME.

How does this battle end? It usually ends with one side caving. And in my over 35 years of covering shutdowns, one thing has always been true: the side that gives in has always been the party which started the shutdown.

COINS.

You might have seen these floating around on the internet yesterday. The Treasury Department confirms that they are real. The Trump Administration is making plans to mint a $1 coin with President Trump’s likeness to commemorate the semiquincentennial.

BITTER, PARTY OF ONE.

I am still somewhat aggravated that no one picked my favorite word for the 250th anniversary, the Bicenquinquagenary.

Government shutdown heads into next week

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