Overview
- Democrats seek an extension of Affordable Care Act premium subsidies and a reversal of Medicaid cuts, while Republicans reject those terms and Democrats also push for new limits on presidential impoundment.
- The White House moved to terminate about 6,000 federal workers and to suspend some clean-energy and transportation funding in Democratic-led states; unions sued, and a federal judge ordered the terminations paused.
- Approximately 650,000 federal workers are furloughed and about 600,000 are working without pay, as the Office of Management and Budget asserts furloughed staff may not receive back pay without new authorization.
- Agency operations are curtailed, with CMS halting casework, the FDA stopping acceptance of new drug applications, and the Census Bureau and BEA suspending data collection while most BLS work is on hold.
- The Pentagon is covering troop pay by shifting $8 billion from research accounts despite legal questions, and the administration told a court that November food aid will be issued at only half the usual amount.