The U.S. Senate is scheduled to reconvene at 15:00 local time Monday following a three-day recess, with a vote to end the 20-day government shutdown that has now become one of the longest in modern history.
The Senate has voted 10 times on a Republican measure that has already passed in the House to fund the government through November 21, and each time the bill has failed.
On the other side of the Capitol, the House of Representatives went on recess before the shutdown began, and Republican leaders canceled all votes on the matter through the coming week.
Speaker Mike Johnson accused Democrats of playing politics and stated that Republicans will not engage in other legislative work until the government is reopened. He emphasized using all available leverage to force Democrats to "do the right thing."
Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries countered that Democrats will not support the Republican spending bill, which he labeled as a partisan proposal, if it contains cuts to healthcare for the American people.
That means little is being done to end the funding lapse and reopen the government, as neither side appears open to compromise.
Most federal government employees will likely receive backpay after the government reopens but have received only partial paychecks for the previous pay period and are set to receive no pay for the next period.
Senate Republican plan to introduce a measure that would pay the military and government employees required to show up during the shutdown. But that measure will also require Democratic votes and is unlikely to pass.
Republicans hope to ramp up political pressure on Democrats by forcing them to vote on the record against paying these employees.
U.S. gov't shutdown nears third week as political gridlock continues
