A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
The deadline has passed to keep the government open. Federal agencies ran out of funding at midnight when lawmakers failed to break through a political standoff. In a few minutes, we'll speak with Republican Congressman Mike Haridopolos of Florida about how to break the deadlock.
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
But first, here's where things stand. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer blamed Republicans.
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CHUCK SCHUMER: Their bill - they call it clean. We call it totally partisan. There was no input from Democrats. Not a single line in their bill had input from Democrats. They never consulted us. Thune didn't consult me. Johnson didn't consult Hakeem. And the bottom line is that we had a partisan bill.
FADEL: On the Republican side, messages sent by the Trump administration to federal workers blamed Democrats, and a bright red banner on the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Agency website blamed the, quote, "radical left" and radical liberals in Congress. The language was so explicitly partisan, federal workers and ethics experts questioned whether it broke federal ethics laws prohibiting federal employees from engaging in political activity while in an official capacity.
MARTÍNEZ: Many federal workers have feared for their jobs in recent days as President Trump has threatened mass firings of furloughed workers, which could inject new levels of chaos into the shutdown.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We can cut large numbers of people. We don't want to do that, but we don't want fraud, waste and abuse.
FADEL: Today starts the first shutdown since 2019, when the government was closed for five weeks during Trump's first term.
MARTÍNEZ: NPR congressional correspondent Claudia Grisales is following all this. So, Claudia, I mean, this Congress - Republican-led Congress - seemingly has been on a collision course for a shutdown most of the year. And you've seen a lot of last-minute saves on Capitol Hill before. How did we get here?
CLAUDIA GRISALES, BYLINE: Right. Good morning, A. What you're seeing is a culmination of bitter, extreme partisan divide hitting rock bottom in Washington. Democratic votes are needed to pass a stopgap measure in the Senate and now they're pushing back, blaming Republicans. Here's Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
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SCHUMER: Republicans are plunging America into a shutdown, rejecting bipartisan talks, pushing a partisan bill and risking America's health care, worst of all.
GRISALES: Last night, competing GOP and Democratic bills in the Senate to keep the government open both failed.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah, but they're making a political calculation, too, right? Because Democrats have been challenged from both their base and rank-and-file members to do more this year.
GRISALES: Right. Earlier this year, Senate Democrats, like Schumer, helped Republicans keep the government funded, but that drew sharp backlash. And since that time, their lack of power in Washington has become even more stark. President Trump and Republicans passed a massive partisan spending and tax plan, dismantled government agencies, laid off workers and slashed public services by clawing back billions in spending. Now Democrats are asking for an extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year.
MARTÍNEZ: And where do Republicans stand on that?
GRISALES: Well, most are pretty dug in. The Republican-led House remains on recess since last week. And Senate Majority Leader John Thune is blaming Democrats, but at the same time, he's hopeful more will join them.
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JOHN THUNE: Democrats may have chosen to shut down the government tonight, but we can reopen it tomorrow. All it takes is a handful of Democrats to join Republicans to pass the clean, nonpartisan funding bill that's in front of us.
MARTÍNEZ: All right. So what happens now?
GRISALES: So we're going to see this blame game and spin continue, and the Senate's going to vote again. A few Democrats did break last night to join. Republicans are hoping to build on that. But the GOP could blink instead. They could hold bipartisan talks to reach a deal, but that seems out of reach. What we do know is that hundreds of thousands of federal workers are now furloughed, and as that scenario deteriorates, it will ramp up pressure on the president and Congress to find a way out.
MARTÍNEZ: All right. That's NPR's Claudia Grisales. Thanks a lot.
GRISALES: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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