US government heads to longest shutdown as Trump resists calls to talk

Washington is hurtling towards its longest-ever federal government shutdown, as the impasse between Republican and Democratic legislators drags on and Donald Trump rebuffs calls to negotiate.

Tuesday marked the 35th day of the government shutdown, tying the record set in 2018-19. It has left hundreds of thousands of federal workers on furlough, without pay, closed some services, and disrupted the supply of food stamps for 40mn Americans who rely on them.

On Tuesday, the president warned that his government would only restart food benefits for the poorest Americans if “Radical Left Democrats” opened up the government.

Republican congressional leaders have called for Democrats to agree a stop-gap legislative measure to keep funding at current spending levels. But Democrats have said they will not agree until Republicans reverse planned cuts to healthcare tax credits due to run out at the end of the year.

Trump has refused calls meet top Democrats to strike a deal, even as polling suggests Americans blame him and his party for the shutdown.

“All they have to do is open the country,” he told reporters on Sunday, referring to the Democrats. “We have voted 14 times to open the country, and they vote to keep it closed.”

But there are signs that lawmakers may be inching towards an deal, as a small group of rank-and-file senators from both parties meet behind closed doors.

“I think we’re getting close to an off-ramp here,” John Thune, the Republican Senate majority leader, told reporters on Capitol Hill on Monday. But “this is unlike any other government shutdown, in terms of the way Democrats are reacting to it”, he added.

The shutdown has become more painful for the public in recent days, imperilling benefits for some of the poorest Americans, including the more than 40mn people who rely on government food aid. Funds for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or Snap, lapsed at the weekend for the first time in the programme’s more than 60-year history.

The Trump administration revealed in federal court filings on Monday that it would send half of the normal food stamp benefits to needy families for November. The president appeared to contradict that stance on his Truth Social platform on Tuesday, when he said the benefits would “be given only” when the government reopened.

Some federally funded pre-school programmes for low-income children in parts of the country have also been forced to close their doors.

Washington veterans say the disruption to Snap and other welfare programmes will put the shutdown front of mind for many voters — and increase pressure on both parties to end the stalemate.

“Now we are talking about big percentages of the country that are going to feel very real effects,” said longtime Republican strategist Doug Heye.

Democrats insist their bargaining power has increased since November 1, the start of a period when Americans can sign up for health insurance for the coming year. That has given some of them an insight into how much more expensive their monthly costs will be without the tax credits.

Opinion polls also say voters are more likely to blame Trump and the Republicans for the shutdown.

An NBC News poll from Sunday found 52 per cent of registered voters blamed the president and/or his party, compared to 42 per cent who blamed congressional Democrats.

The same poll found that 43 per cent of Americans approved of Trump’s job performance — a four-point decrease from March — while 55 per cent disapproved.

Additional reporting by Stefania Palma in Washington