Day 14 of the government shutdown is upon us, and the stalemate continues, with Congress still at an impasse over spending proposals.

The main bone of contention is a deadlock over healthcare funding and the tax credits for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace that expires at the end of the year for people who buy their own health insurance. Democratic lawmakers want the subsidies to be extended before enrollment begins Nov. 1.

Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., gave a stark warning about the possible impacts on Oct.13, criticizing Democrats.

“We’re barreling toward one of the longest shutdowns in American history unless Democrats drop their partisan demands and pass a clean, no-strings-attached budget to reopen the government and pay our federal workers,” Johnson said.

The longest shutdown in U.S. history lasted 35 days between December 2018 and January 2019, during President Donald Trump’s first term.

‘Batten down the hatches’: White House says more layoffs will come as shutdown drags on

The White House said Monday that it plans to continue mass layoffs of federal workers as the government shutdown drags on.

The Office of Management of Budget, in a statement posted on X, said it is “making every preparation to batten down the hatches and ride out the Democrats’ intransigence.”

“Pay the troops, pay law enforcement, continue the RIFs, and wait,” the OMB, led by director Russell Vought, added in the statement.

The warning of additional RIFs, or reductions in force, comes after the Trump administration began firing federal workers amid the shutdown last Friday. In all, about 4,000 federal workers were laid off. But a senior administration official told USA TODAY this was just the first wave of terminations, with more to come.

The layoffs, which unions have challenged in court, gutted the Department of Education, which Trump earlier this year pushed to eliminate entirely by executive order. That includes the elimination of nearly everyone in the department’s Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.

How is the shutdown affecting Social Security?

Thousands of employees at the Social Security Administration have been furloughed, in turn limiting the agency’s available services during the shutdown.

Social Security and Supplemental Security Income payments are still going out during the shutdown, as they are considered mandatory spending by law and therefore not dependent on congressional approval.

While Social Security offices are also still open during the shutdown, some of the agency’s services are not available, including replacing a Medicare card, issuing a proof of income letter and updating or correcting earnings records.

SSA was expected to announce the cost-of-living-adjustment for 2026 on Oct. 15, but it has been postponed to Oct. 24 due to a delay in the release of the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ September inflation report.

Senate to vote again, mass firings continue

The Senate is set to return on Tuesday to vote for an eighth time on reopening the government. The plan is expected to fail again as the impasse continues.

Mass firings of federal government workers have been underway across multiple departments, with some of the largest cuts coming to the Treasury Department, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Education Department.

According to a Justice Department court filing, the targets include 1,446 employees and approximately 1,200 employees at the HHS.

At least 4,000 civil-service workers were notified Oct. 10 they were being laid off, rather than simply furloughed as in past shutdowns, and the administration warned that more are coming.

Meanwhile, President Trump vowed to continue paying members of the military.

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