Government shutdown Day 17. Trump promotes canceling 'Democrat programs'

WASHINGTON − The government shutdown continued through Day 17 with no end in sight, as concerns grow about federal workers including the military missing paychecks and as benefits such as food assistance run out.

The Pentagon shifted funding to meet the Oct. 15 payday for active-duty troops but payments are uncertain for Oct. 31, sparking concerns about how to make ends meet. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which 42 million people across the country rely upon, will fail to pay full benefits in November if the shutdown continues. The U.S. Supreme Court said it will continue holding oral arguments and conducting other important business during the shutdown but it would shutter its iconic building in the nation’s capital to the public.

No relief is visible on the horizon. The next Senate vote is scheduled for Oct. 20. By that point, the shutdown would become the third-longest in history, surpassing the 19-day lapse in funding in 1978 under President Jimmy Carter. The longest shutdown was 35 days in 2018 and 2019 during President Donald Trump’s first term.

Supreme Court to run out of funding Oct. 18

Patricia McCabe, the Supreme Court’s spokesperson, said the high court expects to run out of funding Oct. 18.

“As a result, the Supreme Court Building will be closed to the public until further notice,” McCabe said. “The Building will remain open for official business. The Supreme Court will continue to conduct essential work such as hearing oral arguments, issuing orders and opinions, processing case filings, and providing police and building support needed for those operations.” - Bart Jansen

Army Corps of Engineers to ‘immediately pause’ projects in multiple cities

President Donald Trump’s White House says the Army Corps of Engineers will be “immediately pausing” over $11 billion in infrastructure projects in several cities led by Democrats as the federal government shutdown heads into its third week.

The freeze will affect “lower-priority projects” in New York, San Francisco, Boston and Baltimore. All of the projects also will be considered for cancellation, Russell Vought, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, wrote in a post on X.

Like Trump and Republicans in Congress, Vought blamed Democrats for the government shutdown now on its 17th day with no end in sight. He added that the funding crisis “has drained the Army Corps of Engineers’ ability to manage billions of dollars in projects.” - Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy

Federal courts to reduce staffing Oct. 20

The federal courts announced that if the shutdown continues, federal judges will continue working with pay beyond Oct. 20 but court staffers will be furloughed unless perform excepted activities.

Examples of excepted work for staffers include activities necessary for the safety of human life and the protection of property. Such work will be performed without pay during the shutdown.

The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts said in announcing the changes that each court – district, bankruptcy and appellate – will make its own operational decisions. Anyone with court business is directed to contact the appropriate clerk’s office to find out what is still operating.The last time a shutdown forced the furlough of court workers was during former President Bill Clinton’s administration in 1995 and 1996. - Bart Jansen

House to remain out until at least Oct. 21

House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-Louisiana, announced the House wouldn’t vote at least through Oct. 20.

The House has been out since before the shutdown, after the sending the Senate legislation to fund the government through Nov. 21. The Senate has failed 10 times to approve the legislation, with another vote scheduled Oct. 20.

Scalise said the House remains on 48-hour notice to return if the Senate approves the bill.

Pentagon workers will miss first paycheck Oct. 31: House GOP

House Armed Services Chairman Mike Rogers reporters that Pentagon workers won’t get paid Oct. 31 despite the Trump administration being able to shift money to cover the Oct. 15 paychecks.

Rogers, R-Alabama, said most troops live paycheck to paycheck, average less than $3,000 in savings and won’t have access to routine medical and dental care. In addition, federal civilian workers will miss their first full paycheck Oct. 24, after getting partial checks Oct. 10.

“This is going to get really painful for a lot of civilian employees,” Rogert said. “All these things are real-life problems that are being imposed on them by the Democrats.

Rogers argued that adversaries such as Russia and Iran aren’t closed but that workers analyzing intelligence or monitoring the country’s nuclear stockpile are on furlough.

“We need our Defense Department operating on all cylinders,” Rogers said. “This has real national security implications.” - Bart Jansen

Jeffries: GOP benefits ‘rich and shameless’

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-New York, told reporters at the Capitol that Republicans have maintained their silence about potential negotiations with Democrats since meeting with Trump at the White House weeks ago.

“Their position is, ‘We want to continue to benefit the wealthy, the well-off and the well-connected, and promote the lifestyles of the rich and shameless,’” Jeffries said.

Jeffries note that the Trump administration found $20 billion to bail out Argentina but refuses to negotiate higher health care spending. Democrats seek to restore Medicaid cuts that were previously approved and to extend subsidies under the Affordable Care Act set to expire Dec. 31.

“This is extraordinary stuff,” Jeffries said. “Cruelty has been the point for this administration.” - Bart Jansen

DHS workers, including ICE, Border Patrol agents, to receive ‘super check’

More than 70,000 law enforcement officers who work for the Department of Homeland Security will be paid for all hours worked during the shutdown, Secretary Kristi Noem said Oct. 16.

Workers serving exempted areas including Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection, the Secret Service and Transportation Security Administration will receive a “super check” on Oct. 22, Noem said in a statement on X. The check will cover all hours worked during the shutdown as well as the next pay period.

“DHS remains deeply grateful to our law enforcement for their continued professionalism, vigilance, and service under challenging circumstances,” Noem added.

Much of DHS is considered “essential” to government operations, so officers have remained on duty during the funding shutdown. - Melina Khan

Trump promotes cancelation of ‘Democrat programs’

Trump told Maria Bartiromo for an interview that will air on Fox News on Oct. 19 on “Sunday Morning Futures” that he thinks the government “could just stay out forever” but that he is cutting programs supported by Democrats permanently.

Trump blamed Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, for the shutdown. He noted that he canceled a $20 billion project to build a new tunnel beneath the Hudson River supported by Schumer.

“The project is going to be dead,” Trump told Bartiromo for a portion of the interview that aired Oct. 17. “It’s pretty much dead right now.”

Trump said he would keep cutting “Democrat programs” that Republicans never wanted.

“They didn’t realize that that gives me the right to cut programs that Republicans never wanted – you know, giveaways, welfare programs etcetera – and we’re doing that and we’re cutting them permanently,” Trump said.

Schumer has previously called the pause in funding for what is called the Gateway project “petty revenge politics.”

“And who gets hurt?” Schumer asked on social media. “It’s going to screw over hundreds of thousands of New York and New Jersey commuters, choke off our economy, and kill good-paying jobs.”

SNAP food benefits could run out in November: USDA

The U.S. Department of Agriculture warned that there will not be enough funding to pay the entirety of SNAP benefits for November if the shutdown doesn’t end.”If the current lapse in appropriations continues, there will be insufficient funds to pay full November SNAP benefits for approximately 42 million individuals across the Nation,” reads a letter to state agencies dated Oct. 10.

State health officials across the country, including in North Carolina, Wisconsin and Minnesota, have begun warning recipients of the possible lack of funds for November.

Melissa Schott, a case manager for housing nonprofit and thrift store Fair Tide, told Foster’s Daily Democrat newspaper in New Hamphire that increased property taxes and the approaching winter are raising concerns about rising costs.“People are very afraid about their basic needs not getting met,” she said. “Every day, my calls are about rent, food and heat.

Next Senate vote to end shutdown will be Oct. 20

After the 10th failed vote Oct. 16 to reopen the government, the Senate will vote again Oct. 20 on the House-passed measure.

So far, three senators who caucus with Democrats joined Republicans in voting to reopen the government. But the GOP needs another five Democrats to meet the 60-vote threshold needed to advance the legislation.

The vote is scheduled at 5:30 p.m.

Senate also failed to approve full-year funding for Pentagon

Besides failing to reopen the government, the Senate failed to muster enough votes to advance legislation funding the Defense Department.

Approving the bill could have resolved questions about how to pay the military, which active-duty troops have called “nerve-wracking.” The Pentagon shifted funding to meet the Oct. 15 payday but sending paychecks Oct. 31 remains uncertain if the shutdown continues that long.

Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire voted to advance the defense spending bill. She joined Democratic Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada and John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, who routinely vote with Republicans to reopen the government with independent Sen. Angus King of Maine.

But most Democrats remained opposed during the spending impasse over health care costs. The 50-44 vote, with six absences, fell short of the 60 votes needed to advance it.