Shutdown Enters 22nd Day, Layoff Notices Issued

The U.S. government shutdown has entered its 22nd day, making it the second-longest in history and raising the possibility it could extend into November and surpass the 35-day 2018–19 closure. The impasse centers on Democrats’ demand to extend expiring health-insurance subsidies for roughly 22 million Americans while Republicans, backed by the White House, insist such policy debates occur separately. The Senate repeatedly failed to advance short-term funding measures (including after Sen. Jeff Merkley's more-than-22-hour speech), as filibuster thresholds were unmet. The shutdown has furloughed or left unpaid about 1.4 million federal workers, strained aviation staffing — prompting FAA ground-stop notices at Houston airports — and risks disrupting Head Start, paychecks and health-care subsidies. The administration has issued layoff notices and directed the Defense Department to use available funds to pay troops, a move legal experts say could violate the Antideficiency Act, while Treasury officials estimate costs up to $15 billion per day and a federal judge has temporarily blocked certain firings.