Government shutdown takes hold with mass layoffs looming and no end in sight

WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal government was thrown into a shutdown Wednesday with no easy endgame in sight, as Democrats held firm to their demands to salvage health care subsidies that President Donald Trump and Republican in Congress have dismissed as something to possibly discuss later.

The White House threatened mass layoffs of federal workers, rather than simply the normal furloughs, in a matter of days, seizing the chance to slash government. Blame was being cast on all sides. No new talks were scheduled after the president failed this week to secure a deal with congressional leaders.

“Let’s be honest, if this thing drags on,” warned Vice President JD Vance during a visit to the White House briefing room, “we are going to have to lay people off.”

Roughly 750,000 federal workers were expected to be furloughed, and some fired, by Trump's Republican administration. Many offices will be shuttered, perhaps permanently, as the president promises to zero in on programs Democrats like. Trump's deportation agenda is likely to run full speed ahead, while education, environmental and other services sputter. The economic fallout could ripple across the nation.

Democrats believe their health care campaign is what House Leader Hakeem Jeffries called a “moral” issue, but cracks are emerging within the party. A Senate vote on the GOP plan to fund the government without the health subsidies failed, but it drew some Democratic support.

“I certainly pray they will come to their senses,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said, flanked by GOP leaders at the Capitol.

This is the third time Trump has presided over a federal funding lapse and the first since his return to the White House this year. His record underscores the polarizing divide over budget priorities in a political climate that rewards hard-line positions rather than more traditional compromises.

The Democrats picked this fight, which was unusual for the party that prefers to keep government running, but their voters are eager to challenge the president’s second-term agenda. Democrats are demanding funding for health care subsidies that are expiring for millions of people under the Affordable Care Act, causing the insurance premiums to spike nationwide.

Republicans have have encouraged Trump to steer clear of any talks. At the White House meeting, he gave the congressional leaders “Trump 2028” caps. Afterward, the president posted a cartoonish fake video mocking the Democratic leadership that was widely viewed as unserious and racist.

“President Trump’s behavior has become more erratic and unhinged," Democratic leaders Jeffries and Sen. Chuck Schumer said in a joint statement. “Instead of negotiating a bipartisan agreement in good faith, he is obsessively posting crazed deepfake videos.”

Asked about the depiction of Jeffries with a mustache and a sombrero, Vance dismissed it as “funny.”

What neither side has devised is an easy off-ramp to prevent what could become a protracted closure. The ramifications are certain to spread beyond the political arena, upending the lives of Americans who rely on the government for benefit payments, work contracts and the many services being thrown into turmoil.

Trump’s Office of Management and Budget, headed by Russ Vought, directed agencies to execute plans not just for furloughs, which are typical during a federal funding lapse, but mass firings of federal workers. Vought told House Republicans during a private conference call Wednesday of layoffs coming in the next couple of days, according to a person granted anonymity to discus it.

An economic jolt could be felt in a matter of days. The government is expected Friday to produce its monthly jobs report, which may or may not be delivered.

Wall Street veered toward losses before the opening bell Wednesday as the shutdown went into effect just after midnight, but stocks hit more record highs later in the day.

Across the government, stoppages were getting underway.

The Medicare and Medicaid health care programs are expected to continue, though staffing shortages could mean delays for some services. The Pentagon would still function. And most employees will stay on the job at the Department of Homeland Security.

But Trump has warned that the administration could focus on programs that are important to Democrats, “cutting vast numbers of people out, cutting things that they like, cutting programs that they like.”

As agencies sort out which workers are essential, or not, Smithsonian museums are expected to stay open at least until Monday. A group of former national park superintendents urged the administration to close the parks to visitors, arguing that poorly staffed parks are a danger to the public and put resources at risk.

Ahead of Wednesday’s start of the fiscal year, House Republicans had approved a temporary funding bill, over opposition from Democrats, to keep government running into mid-November while broader budget talks continue.

But that bill has failed repeatedly in the Senate, including Wednesday, on a 55-45 vote. It needs 60 votes to advance, which requires cooperation in a chamber where the GOP has a 53-47 majority. A Democratic bill also failed.

Divisions within the Democrats are apparent, as three senators again crossed over to join Republicans. One Republican opposed the GOP plan.

During the roll call, an widening group of senators engaged in an intense conversation, including GOP Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota, who has been talking with colleagues about the idea of a one-year extension of the expiring health care subsidies.

“It’s just one thought, and there are other ideas that are out there," Rounds said afterward.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, who has said Republicans are happy to discuss the health care issue — but not as part of talks to keep the government open — is working to peel off more Democrats to his side.

The standoff is a political test for Schumer, who has drawn scorn from a restive base of left-flank voters pushing the party to hold firm in its demands for health care funding.

Johnson sent lawmakers home nearly two weeks ago but said they would be back next week.

Trump, during his meeting with the congressional leaders, expressed surprise at the scope of the rising costs of health care, but Democrats left with no path toward talks.

During Trump’s first term, the nation endured its longest-ever shutdown, 35 days, over his demands for funds Congress refused to provide to build his promised U.S.-Mexico border wall.

In 2013, the government shut down for 16 days during the Obama presidency over GOP demands to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. Other closures date back decades.

Associated Press writers Matt Brown, Joey Cappelletti, Aamer Madhani, Will Weissert, Fatima Hussein and other AP reporters nationwide contributed to this report.

Park rangers spend the first morning of the government shutdown closing down the Fort Sumter National Monument center including taking down the American flag Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025, in Charleston, S.C. (Grace Beahm Alford/The Post And Courier via AP)

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, of N.Y., speaks to reporters at the Capitol on Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, of N.Y., walks to a press conference on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., the Senate GOP whip, left, and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., right, arrive for a news conference with top Republicans on the government shutdown, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

People look through fence to get a glance at the Statue of Liberty in New York, Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., attends a news conference about the government shutdown, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025, on Capitol Hill, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

People stand near an entrance to Zion National Park, Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025, in Springdale, Utah. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, of La., center, shakes hands with Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., left, as they walk with Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, of Wyo., right to a press conference at the Capitol on Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., gives a tour of the Capitol to a group of students from New York after their previously-scheduled tour was canceled due to the government shutdown on Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

People take photos with a sign announcing that the Library of Congress is closed, on the first day of a partial government shutdown, Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

A closed sign stands in front of the National Archives on the first day of a government shutdown, Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

A closed sign stands in front of the National Archives on the first day of a government shutdown, Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

The dome of the U.S. Capitol is seen at sunrise on Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

The Capitol is seen at dusk as Democrats and Republicans in Congress are angrily blaming each other and refusing to budge from their positions on funding the government, in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House before signing an executive order regarding childhood cancer and the use of AI, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., speaks to reporters Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, as the U.S. government is on the brink of the first federal government shutdown in almost seven years.. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., attends a news conference about the government shutdown, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

The sunset is seen from the Capitol before Republican and Democratic news conferences about the government shutdown, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025, on Capitol Hill, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

HAVANA (AP) — Cuban soldiers wearing white gloves marched out of a plane on Thursday carrying urns with the remains of the 32 Cuban officers killed during a stunning U.S. attack on Venezuela as trumpets and drums played solemnly at Havana's airport.

Nearby, thousands of Cubans lined one of Havana’s most iconic streets to await the bodies of colonels, lieutenants, majors and captains as the island remained under threat by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.

The soldiers' shoes clacked as they marched stiff-legged into the headquarters of the Ministry of the Armed Forces, next to Revolution Square, with the urns and placed them on a long table next to the pictures of those killed so people could pay their respects.

Thursday’s mass funeral was only one of a handful that the Cuban government has organized in almost half a century.

Hours earlier, state television showed images of more than a dozen wounded people described as “combatants” accompanied by Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez arriving Wednesday night from Venezuela. Some were in wheelchairs.

Those injured and the remains of those killed arrived as tensions grow between Cuba and the U.S., with Trump recently demanding that the Caribbean country make a deal with him before it is “too late.” He did not explain what kind of deal.

Trump also has said that Cuba will no longer live off Venezuela's money and oil. Experts warn that the abrupt end of oil shipments could be catastrophic for Cuba, which is already struggling with serious blackouts and a crumbling power grid.

Officials unfurled a massive flag at Havana's airport as President Miguel Díaz-Canel, clad in military garb as commander of Cuba's Armed Forces, stood silent next to former President Raúl Castro, with what appeared to be the relatives of those killed looking on nearby.

Cuban Interior Minister Lázaro Alberto Álvarez Casa said Venezuela was not a distant land for those killed, but a “natural extension of their homeland.”

“The enemy speaks to an audience of high-precision operations, of troops, of elites, of supremacy,” Álvarez said in apparent reference to the U.S. “We, on the other hand, speak of faces, of families who have lost a father, a son, a husband, a brother.”

Álvarez called those slain “heroes,” saying that they were an example of honor and “a lesson for those who waver.”

“We reaffirm that if this painful chapter of history has demonstrated anything, it is that imperialism may possess more sophisticated weapons; it may have immense material wealth; it may buy the minds of the wavering; but there is one thing it will never be able to buy: the dignity of the Cuban people,” he said.

Thousands of Cubans lined a street where motorcycles and military vehicles thundered by with the remains of those killed.

“They are people willing to defend their principles and values, and we must pay tribute to them,” said Carmen Gómez, a 58-year-old industrial designer, adding that she hopes no one invades given the ongoing threats.

When asked why she showed up despite the difficulties Cubans face, Gómez replied, “It’s because of the sense of patriotism that Cubans have, and that will always unite us.”

Cuba recently released the names and ranks of 32 military personnel — ranging in age from 26 to 60 — who were part of the security detail of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro during the raid on his residence on January 3. They included members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces and the Ministry of the Interior, the island’s two security agencies.

Cuban and Venezuelan authorities have said that the uniformed personnel were part of protection agreements between the two countries.

A demonstration was planned for Friday across from the U.S. Embassy in an open-air forum known as the Anti-Imperialist Tribune. Officials have said they expect the demonstration to be massive.

“People are upset and hurt. There’s a lot of talk on social media; but many do believe that the dead are martyrs” of a historic struggle against the United States, analyst and former diplomat Carlos Alzugaray told The Associated Press.

In October 1976, then-President Fidel Castro led a massive demonstration to bid farewell to the 73 people killed in the bombing of a Cubana de Aviación civilian flight financed by anti-revolutionary leaders in the U.S. Most of the victims were Cuban athletes.

In December 1989, officials organized “Operation Tribute” to honor the more than 2,000 Cuban combatants who died in Angola during Cuba’s participation in the war that defeated the South African army and ended the apartheid system. In October 1997, memorial services were held following the arrival of the remains of guerrilla commander Ernesto “Che” Guevara and six of his comrades, who died in 1967.

The latest mass burial is critical to honor those slain, said José Luis Piñeiro, a 60-year-old doctor who lived four years in Venezuela.

“I don’t think Trump is crazy enough to come and enter a country like this, ours, and if he does, he’s going to have to take an aspirin or some painkiller to avoid the headache he’s going to get,” Piñeiro said. “These were 32 heroes who fought him. Can you imagine an entire nation? He’s going to lose.”

A day before the remains of those killed arrived in Cuba, the U.S. announced $3 million in additional aid to help the island recover from the catastrophic Hurricane Melissa.

The first flight took off on Wednesday, and a second flight was scheduled for Friday. A commercial vessel also will deliver food and other supplies.

Jeremy Lewin, the State Department official in charge of foreign assistance, said the U.S. was working with Cuba’s Catholic Church to distribute aid.

“There’s nothing political about cans of tuna and rice and beans and pasta,” he said Thursday, warning that the Cuban government should not intervene or divert supplies. “We will be watching, and we will hold them accountable.”

Lewin said he saw no contradiction between cutting off Venezuelan oil and offering aid, saying that “the Cuban regime was taking illegitimate profits from the narco-terrorists.”

He said the U.S. hopes that delivering aid via the Catholic Church will be part of a new and broader push to deliver assistance directly to the Cuban people.

“Ultimately, the regime has to make a choice," Lewin said. “Step down or better provide towards people.”

Lewin added that “if there was no regime,” the U.S. would provide “billions and billions of dollars” in assistance, as well as investment and development: “That’s what lies on the other side of the regime for the Cuban people.”

The announcement riled Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez.

“The U.S. government is exploiting what appears to be a humanitarian gesture for opportunistic and politically manipulative purposes,” he said in a statement. “As a matter of principle, Cuba does not oppose assistance from governments or organizations, provided it benefits the people and the needs of those affected are not used for political gain under the guise of humanitarian aid.”

Coto contributed from San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

Military members pay their last respects to Cuban officers who were killed during the U.S. operation in Venezuela that captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, at the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces where the urns containing the remains are displayed during a ceremony in Havana, Cuba, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

A motorcade transports urns containing the remains of Cuban officers, who were killed during the U.S. operation in Venezuela that captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, through Havana, Cuba, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Soldiers carry urns containing the remains of Cuban officers, who were killed during the U.S. operation in Venezuela that captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, at the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces in Havana, Cuba, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (Adalberto Roque /Pool Photo via AP)

A motorcade transports urns containing the remains of Cuban officers, who were killed during the U.S. operation in Venezuela that captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, through Havana, Cuba, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

A motorcade transports urns containing the remains of Cuban officers, who were killed during the U.S. operation in Venezuela that captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, through Havana, Cuba, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

People line the streets of Havana, Cuba, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, to watch the motorcade carrying urns containing the remains of Cuban officers killed during the U.S. operation in Venezuela that captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Workers fly the Cuban flag at half-staff at the Anti-Imperialist Tribune near the U.S. Embassy in Havana, Cuba, Monday, Jan. 5, 2026, in memory of Cubans who died two days before in Caracas, Venezuela during the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro by U.S. forces. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)