Top Senate Republican says he can ‘guarantee’ a vote on key healthcare provision amid shutdown standoff – live | US federal government shutdown 2025

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Top Senate Republican says he can ‘guarantee’ a vote on key healthcare provision amid shutdown standoff – live | US federal government shutdown 2025

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Top Senate Republican says he can ‘guarantee’ vote on key healthcare provision as government shutdown enters day 16

Hello, and welcome to the US politics live blog. I’m Shrai Popat, and I’ll be bringing you the latest from Washington and beyond.

The Senate’s majority leader, Republican John Thune, said today that he has told congressional Democrats that he can “guarantee” a scheduled vote on extending Affordable Care Act (ACA) Subsidies.

“I can’t guarantee it’s going to pass. I can guarantee you that there will be a process and you will get a vote,” he said in an interview with MSNBC earlier.

For their part, Democrats have been resolute, without a negotiation on several healthcare provisions, they’re unwilling to advance a House-passed short-term funding measure that has stalled in the Senate nine times. That will be up for another (read: 10th) vote at 11am today.

Also on the table, Thune is planning to bring a full-year appropriations bill to fund the Pentagon through 2026 to the Senate floor today. “If we’re sitting around here voting every day and they keep voting to keep the government shut down, we need to be trying to move the needle on some of the other stuff that we need to get done,” Thune told the Hill in an interview on Wednesday.

To catch you up on other developments:

Americans say their monthly costs have risen by between $100 and $749, according to an exclusive new poll conducted for the Guardian. When asked to estimate how much their regular monthly household costs have increased from last year, 74% of those surveyed said they had seen increases of at least $100, according to the poll.
Vice-President JD Vance sought to downplay the revelation that leaders of a group called the Young Republicans exchanged hundreds of racist, sexist text messages. “The reality is that kids do stupid things, especially young boys,” Vance said in a new episode of the Charlie Kirk Show. “They tell edgy, offensive jokes. That’s what kids do.”
Donald Trump suggested on Wednesday that San Francisco could be the next city he targets with federal troops, threatening a deployment that local and state officials have said is unnecessary and unwelcome.

Updated at 09.09 EDT

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Mike Johnson said that Bernie Sanders, the independent senator from Vermont, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the Democratic congresswoman from New York, said the “quiet part out loud” during a televised CNN town hall on Wednesday.

“They don’t know what they want to end the shutdown. They couldn’t provide a single viable solution for the mess that they themselves have gleefully created,” Johnson said.

However, both lawmakers were resolute in their demands during the event. Ocasio-Cortez said she would not accept a short-term extension of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies.

“What we will not accept is the doubling of these premiums. And what we will not accept is allowing the teetering of this system to collapse right before everyone’s eyes,” she added.

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at a committee meeting on Capitol Hill. Photograph: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Ocasio-Cortez also rebuked any suggestion from Republicans that Chuck Schumer, the Senate’s top Democrat, was refusing to advance the House-passed funding bill for fear of a 2026 primary challenge from the New York congresswoman.

“They are saying this because they are refusing to do their job, they are grasping for straws, they’re trying to make this about political tabloids and political intrigue and horse races,” she said.

Johnson repeated the claim that Schumer is being manipulated by the progressive wing of his party. “It truly has become the far-left Marxist left that are running that whole operation,” he said.

Updated at 10.29 EDT

Johnson says Republicans have ‘no idea’ how shutdown ends and continues to blame Democrats

Mike Johnson, the Republican speaker of the House, said that Democrats have offered no plan or strategy to end the government shutdown, which is now on day 16.

“Many of you have asked all of us: how will it end? We have no idea,” Johnson said. “It’s up to the Democrats, and they have to decide.”

Updated at 10.19 EDT

We’re due to hear from House Republicans at 10am ET, as the government shutdown enters its 16th day.

Earlier today, House speaker Mike Johnson continued to blame Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, for the continued lapse of funding.

“He’s hurting the American people – and he knows it’s wrong,” Johnson said.

Pennsylvania Democrats launch plans to oust Fetterman – report

Top Pennsylvania Democrats are plotting to run against Senator John Fetterman, according to an exclusive report by Axios.

According to the news outlet, some Democratic officials are openly contemplating running against Fetterman or “keeping the door open” to a Senate bid in the event he retires.

A reminder that Fetterman has broken ranks with the Democratic party on several occasions since winning his Senate seat in 2022. Most recently, he’s voted to advance the House-passed continuing resolution to keep the government funded, while the rest of the party has continued to reject the bill. “I follow country, then party,” Fetterman said earlier this week. “I can’t vote for shutting the government down.”

According to multiple political insiders that Axios spoke to in the Keystone state, Democrats who could run against Fetterman include House representatives Brendan Boyle and Chris Deluzio, as well as former congressman Conor Lamb.

Fetterman did not respond to Axios’s question about whether he would run for re-election to the Senate or president in 2028.

Senator John Fetterman in Washington DC as the government shutdown continues. Photograph: Allison Robbert/EPAShare

Updated at 09.23 EDT

Schumer criticizes Vance’s comments over Young Republicans group chat leak

The Senate’s top Democrat, Chuck Schumer, has criticized Vice-President JD Vance’s over his comments following the leak of young messages from various Young Republican group chats.

“The reality is that kids do stupid things, especially young boys,” Vance said in a new episode of the Charlie Kirk Show. “They tell edgy, offensive jokes. That’s what kids do.”

Schumer pushed back against the comments: “Leave it to @JDVance to preach about the dangers of violent political rhetoric only when it serves his interests, and then ignore or excuse it when it comes from his own side.”

The Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer, meets with reporters to talk about the struggle to end the government shutdown. Photograph: J Scott Applewhite/APShare

Updated at 09.22 EDT

Donald Trump is at the White House today, per his official schedule.

He will receive his intelligence briefing at 11am ET, but we won’t hear from him until 3pm ET – when he’s set to make an announcement in the Oval Office.

We’ll bring you the latest as soon as we hear more.