Key Points
- Top House Democrat Hakeem Jeffries slammed President Donald Trump for leaving Washington, D.C., to attend Ryder Cup golf matches just days before a possible government shutdown.
- “Why are you at a golf event right now and the government is four days away from closing?” Jeffries asked.
- Republicans want to pass a “clean” stopgap bill to temporarily extend government funding to avoid a shutdown.
- But Democrats want that bill to include an extension of ACA tax credits that are set to expire before 2026.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries ripped President Donald Trump on Friday for leaving town to watch golf matches in New York with just four days left to avoid a possible federal government shutdown.
“He doesn’t have the time to meet with Democratic leaders to fund the government and address the Republican health care crisis, but Donald Trump, right now, as we speak, is at a golf event,” Jeffries, D-N.Y., said at a news conference on Capitol Hill.
Trump left Washington, D.C., on Friday morning for Bethpage, Long Island, to watch matches at the Ryder Cup, a biennial men’s golf competition. Trump flew back to Washington on Air Force One on Friday afternoon.
Asked what he sees as an “off-ramp” to an impasse between Republicans and Democrats, Jeffries pointed at the president.
“Here’s the off-ramp: Donald Trump, get back to Washington, D.C.,” said Jeffries.
“Why are you at a golf event right now, and the government is four days away from closing? That’s outrageous.”
Jeffries and other Democrats argue that Republicans and Trump will be to blame if the federal government shuts down on Wednesday for lack of a stopgap funding package.
White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson, in a statement to CNBC, said, “The only person Hakeem Jeffries and the Democrats can blame for a government shutdown is themselves.”
“The Trump Administration wants a straightforward and clean CR [continuing resolution] to continue funding the government – the exact same proposal that Democrats supported just six months ago, and 13 times under the Biden Administration,” Jackson said.
“But radical Democrats are threatening to shut the government down if they don’t get their nearly $1.5 trillion wish list of demands, including free health care for illegal aliens,” she said. “The [Democrats’] radical agenda was rejected by the American people less than a year ago at the ballot box; now they’re trying to shut down the government and hold the American people hostage over it.”
Republicans, who hold narrow majorities in the House and Senate, want to pass what they call a “clean” bill to temporarily extend funding.
But Democratic leaders insist that the bill include an extension of enhanced Affordable Care Act premium tax credits, which are set to expire at the end of the year. Those credits reduce the cost of health insurance plans purchased on Obamacare marketplaces.
Republicans call those demands unreasonable, arguing that Democrats are the ones standing in the way of the government staying open.
Democrats say Republicans are refusing to negotiate with them because they want to shut the government down.
A funding bill needs 60 votes to be adopted in the Senate, which means it cannot pass on a party-line vote.
There are 53 Republican senators and 45 Democratic senators. The two independent senators caucus with the Democrats.
Democrats refuse to cave on health care before meeting with Trump on government shutdown
- Congressional Democrats are holding the line on their health care demands as shutdown talks enter the final stretch before the funding deadline.
- House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries reiterated his opposition to the GOP-backed spending proposal, underscoring the difficult path forward towards reaching a bipartisan agreement.
- The government will shut down at 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday morning unless a deal is reached.
Congressional Democrats held the line on their health-care demands just hours before meeting Monday with President Donald Trump and Republican leadership to discuss avoiding a U.S. government shutdown.
“Enough with the games that Republicans have been playing connected to the health care of the American people,” House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said. “And no one can trust their word on health care.”
“What we will not do is support a partisan Republican spending bill,” said Jeffries.
Democrats insist that any deal in Congress to stave off a federal shutdown at 12:01 a.m. ET on Wednesday must extend enhanced Obamacare tax credits that are due to expire at the end of 2025.
But Republicans insist that any negotiations on continuing those credits in future years should happen after a funding resolution is approved by the Senate.
Trump is set to meet at 3 p.m. ET with the New York lawmaker Jeffries, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D.
At least seven Senate Democrats would need to vote with Republicans to pass legislation that averts a shutdown.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Government shutdown live updates: Stalemate to last at least three days
The United States government shut down early Wednesday morning, setting the stage for the furlough of hundreds of thousands of federal workers and the shuttering of a slew of key programs and services.
Here’s what to know:
- The full shutdown began after top Democrats and Republicans, including President Donald Trump, failed to agree on a short-term deal to keep the government funded.
- Democrats, led by Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, demand that any stopgap funding measure include an extension of enhanced Obamacare tax credits.
- Trump suggested Tuesday that his administration could take major actions during a shutdown, including cutting government benefits for “large numbers of people.”
- The Senate once again failed to pass dueling Republican and Democratic funding proposals.
- Here’s how key federal agencies are being affected by the shutdown.
An economic data blackout during the shutdown this week is also top of mind, as the September nonfarm payrolls report will not be released on Friday given the Labor Department’s pause on virtually all activity.
The Federal Reserve is expected announce an interest rate cut at its upcoming October meeting after Wednesday morning’s ADP data reflected a drop in private payrolls last month, and as further ramifications of the ongoing shutdown remain to be seen.
NASA keeping workers on the job for Artemis missions with SpaceX, Blue Origin
NASA staff and contractors working on Artemis, the moon exploration program that contracts with Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin, will stay on the job during the shutdown, according to internal memos obtained by CNBC.
Those employees will not be paid “for the duration of the shutdown furlough,” but they should record their time and expect to be paid after the government reopens, NASA Chief Human Capital Officer Kelly Elliott wrote in an email to staffers on Wednesday.
NASA’s acting CFO Stephen Shinn said in a separate shutdown memo issued Monday that the space agency would support “planned operations” of the International Space Station and any satellite mission that “is in the operations phase,” in addition to “Artemis operations during any funding lapse.”
The plan said NASA expected to furlough around 15,000 people and require around 3,000 staffers to keep working, part time or full time, during the shutdown.
A prolonged shutdown may impact Social Security COLA announcement
A shutdown-induced delay in the release of key economic data could impact the announcement of the Social Security cost-of-living adjustment for 2026, according to the Department of Labor.
New consumer price index data is scheduled to be released on Oct. 15 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a division of the Department of Labor. The Social Security Administration is expected to announce the 2026 COLA this month based on that data.
But BLS is suspending operations during the shutdown, the Labor Department said in a contingency plan issued Friday.
More than 74 million Social Security beneficiaries may see an increase in their monthly payments next year, based on the annual inflation adjustment.
Estimates released in September indicated that beneficiaries may see a 2.7% to 2.8%increase to their monthly checks in 2026, which would push the average retirement benefit up by about $54 per month.
Some homebuyers could experience delays in closing, analyst says
Homebuyers who need specific mortgages through the Federal Housing Administration, Veteran Affairs, and U.S. Department of Agriculture loans could experience delays during the shutdown, said Ted Rossman, senior industry analyst at Bankrate.
However, buyers applying for government-backed mortgages via Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should not be affected by the shutdown, Rossman said.
Those who need flood insurance through the National Flood Insurance Program can also “expect delays in closing,” said Melissa Cohn, regional vice president of William Raveis Mortgage.
The NFIP’s authority to issue new policies has lapsed, complicating about 1,400 property transactions each day and leaving buyers in high-risk areas without flood insurance coverage, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Existing flood insurance policies will remain active, including a 30-day grace period, and can be transferred to new owners, according to the NAR.
NFIP claims will continue to be paid, but for how long will depend on the shutdown’s duration, NAR said.
During shutdown, mortgage rates may fall, flood insurance claim payouts will continue
The biggest immediate housing impact from the government shutdown will be on mortgage rates.
Mortgage rates loosely follow the 10-year treasury, which dropped today, so rates could come down. That would be a change from recent mortgage rates, which were just at a three-week high.
The National Flood Insurance Program will also be affected. The program will continue to pay out claims for existing policyholders, but it won’t write new policies or renew existing policies. A lapse would affect about 1,300 property sales per day, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Despite the delay, the home sales are expected to eventually close when the shutdown lifts.
The Federal Housing Administration’s mortgage program, which provides low-down-payment loans to borrowers with lower credit scores, will still operate to endorse new single-family mortgages, but likely at reduced capacity, slowing the process for borrowers. It’ll be the same for mortgage loans guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
The exception will be for products such as home equity conversion mortgages and Title I loans. Critical FHA operations such as claim payments, mortgage servicing, loss mitigation, and REO property management will continue. Activities requiring direct staff input, such as some condo project approvals, are suspended, according to the National Association of Realtors.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture will halt issuance of new direct and guaranteed home loans, and any scheduled direct‑loan closings will be postponed. Pending conditional commitments for guaranteed loans are still being reviewed, but closings for guaranteed loans that do not yet have a guarantee will proceed only at the lender’s risk. Disbursements on existing construction loans may continue, but only when doing so is necessary to protect USDA’s property interests, according to the National Association of Realtors.
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