Washington, D.C. — The U.S. Senate found itself at an impasse on November 7, 2025, as efforts to resolve the government shutdown faltered yet again, leaving hundreds of thousands of federal workers without pay and millions of Americans bracing for continued disruptions to vital services. The latest round of failed negotiations, bitter exchanges, and high-stakes votes underscored just how entrenched both parties remain in their positions, with no clear end in sight.
On Friday evening, Senate Democrats blocked a Republican-led attempt to immediately pay federal employees during the shutdown, voting 53-43 against advancing the Shutdown Fairness Act. The bill, introduced by Senator Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), had been expanded to include not only excepted employees who were required to work during the funding lapse, but also furloughed employees and federal contractors. Payments would have been retroactive to October 1, the day the shutdown began. Despite these additions, the measure fell short of the 60 votes required to limit debate and move the legislation forward.
Senator Johnson, the bill’s chief sponsor, pushed back against Democratic concerns that the legislation granted too much discretion to the Trump administration over which federal employees would be paid and when. "If you want to pay the federal workers, if you want to stop punishing them for our dysfunction, if you want to stop using them as pawns in this political game, that's a demand you have to drop," Johnson insisted on the Senate floor, according to Federal News Network.
But Democrats, led by Senator Gary Peters (D-Mich.), remained unconvinced. Peters blocked a motion for unanimous consent on the bill, arguing, "There's too much wiggle room for the administration to basically pick and choose which federal employees are paid and when." He acknowledged Johnson’s efforts to expand the bill, but said, “I just still have some concerns about the way that the bill has been drafted so far.” Johnson countered forcefully, stating, "There's no picking and choosing. That is completely false."
The stalemate left most civilian federal employees missing their second paycheck as of Friday. Hundreds of thousands have been working without pay, while many more have been furloughed for weeks. The ongoing shutdown has not only drained workers’ bank accounts but also threatened their credit ratings, health, and dignity, according to the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the largest federal employee union. AFGE National President Everett Kelley called the amended bill a “significant improvement,” urging Congress to act swiftly: "Every missed paycheck deepens the financial hole in which federal workers and their families find themselves. By the time Congress reaches a compromise, the damage will have been done — to their bank accounts, their credit ratings, their health and their dignity."
As the partisan gridlock persisted, Senate Democrats tried to break the deadlock by offering to end the shutdown in exchange for a one-year extension of health care tax credits. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) unveiled the proposal on the Senate floor, stating, “We would like to offer a simple proposal that would reopen the government and extend the ACA premium tax credits simultaneously. And then have the opportunity to start negotiating longer-term solutions to health care costs. Let's do all three.”
Republicans, however, quickly dismissed the offer. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told CBS News that the proposal was a "nonstarter" that "doesn't even get close." He emphasized that Republicans would only negotiate health care issues after the government was reopened. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) went further, calling the Democratic proposal “terrible” and “political terrorism.”
The repeated failures to pass a funding bill or even a stopgap measure have left the Senate in a state of uncertainty. Thune announced that the chamber would return at noon on Saturday, November 8, and likely work through the weekend for the first time since the shutdown began. “Our members are going to be advised to be available if, in fact, there's a need to vote, and we will see what happens and whether or not, over the course of the next couple of days, the Democrats can find their way to reengage again,” Thune remarked, according to CBS News.
Meanwhile, frustration is mounting on both sides of the aisle. Senator John Kennedy (R-La.) predicted, “We're going to be here for a long time,” and expressed little hope that a deal would materialize soon. Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) echoed the uncertainty, telling reporters, “I truly don't know” the path forward, and noting that she had canceled personal plans to remain in Washington for negotiations.
Amid the legislative stalemate, federal courts stepped in on several fronts. On Friday, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ordered the Department of Education to remove partisan language blaming Democrats for the shutdown from furloughed employees’ out-of-office email messages, citing First Amendment violations. “Nonpartisanship is the bedrock of the federal civil service; it ensures that career government employees serve the public, not the politicians,” Cooper wrote in his decision. “Political officials are free to blame whomever they wish for the shutdown, but they cannot use rank-and-file civil servants as their unwilling spokespeople.”
In another high-profile intervention, Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson temporarily froze a lower court order requiring the Trump administration to provide full Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for November to roughly 42 million Americans. The administration had planned only partial payments, citing funding constraints, but a district judge directed the USDA to tap contingency funds to make full November payments. The Supreme Court’s intervention gives a federal appeals court more time to consider the administration’s request for longer emergency relief.
President Trump, for his part, has called on the Senate to stay in session until the shutdown is resolved or to eliminate the filibuster to pass a deal. “The United States Senate should not leave town until they have a Deal to end the Democrat Shutdown,” Trump posted on Truth Social. He also suggested that Republicans should “terminate the Filibuster, IMMEDIATELY, and take care of our Great American Workers!” However, Senate GOP leaders have resisted this call, with Thune and others maintaining that the votes are not there to change the chamber’s rules.
Back on Capitol Hill, the mood has grown increasingly tense. Thune accused Democrats of “keeping federal employees hostage,” while Democrats accused Republicans of refusing to negotiate in good faith. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) insisted that Democratic unity remains “high,” while Thune suggested that moderate Democrats were being “bullied” by party leadership into holding out for more concessions.
As the shutdown drags on, the consequences continue to ripple across the country. The Federal Aviation Administration has cut flights at 40 high-traffic airports, affecting major cities and airline hubs. Programs like Head Start face funding gaps, and the fate of nutrition assistance hangs in the balance. The House of Representatives, meanwhile, remains out of session, with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) keeping lawmakers on break since September.
With both sides dug in and neither willing to blink, the nation’s capital is bracing for a protracted standoff. The Senate’s decision to remain in session over the weekend signals a willingness to keep talking, but as of now, there’s little evidence that a breakthrough is imminent. For federal workers, SNAP recipients, and millions of Americans who rely on government services, the wait for relief continues—and patience is running thin.
