White House says firings 'imminent' as plan to reopen government collapses

WASHINGTON: Efforts to swiftly end the US government shutdown collapsed Wednesday (Oct 1) as Democrats in Congress went home without resolving a funding stand-off with President Donald Trump - and the White House threatened public sector jobs.

Federal funding expired at midnight after Trump and lawmakers failed to agree on a deal to keep the lights on, prompting agencies to wind down services, while the White House warned of "imminent" firings of public sector workers.

Senate Democrats - who are demanding extended health care subsidies for low-income families - refused to help the majority Republicans approve a House-passed Bill that would have reopened the government for several weeks while negotiations continue.

Voting in the Senate is now adjourned until Friday, meaning hopes for a quick resolution have been frustrated.

Around 750,000 federal employees are expected to be placed on furlough - a kind of enforced leave, with pay withheld until they return to work.

Essential workers, such as the military and border agents, may be forced to work without pay, and some will likely miss their checks beginning next week. Meanwhile, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association voiced fears for air safety as more than 2,300 members were sent home.

The crisis has higher stakes than previous shutdowns, with Trump racing to enact hard-right policies, including slashing government departments and threatening to turn many of the furloughs into mass firings.

His spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told reporters the administration was "working with agencies across the board to identify where cuts can be made ... and we believe that layoffs are imminent".

Shutdowns are a periodic feature of gridlocked Washington, although this is the first since a record 35-day pause in 2019, during Trump's first term.

They are unpopular because multiple services used by ordinary voters, from national parks to permit applications, become unavailable.

"I think our government needs to learn how to work together for the people and find a way to make things not happen like this," said Terese Johnston, a 61-year-old retired tour guide visiting Washington from California as the government shut down.

"You compromise. You find ways. So everybody gives a little bit, everybody takes a little bit, and things work."

Democrats - spurred by grassroots anger over the expiring health care subsidies and Trump's dismantling of government agencies - have been withholding Senate votes to fund the government as leverage to try and force negotiations.

As the messaging war over the shutdown intensified, Vice President JD Vance took centre stage at a White House briefing normally headed by Leavitt to upbraid Democrats over their demands.

"They said to us, 'we will open the government, but only if you give billions of dollars of funding for health care for illegal aliens'. That's a ridiculous proposition," Vance said in a rare appearance in the briefing room.

US law demands that anyone who presents at a publicly funded emergency room be treated, regardless of their ability to pay. But it bars undocumented immigrants from receiving the health care benefits Democrats are demanding, and the party has not called for a new act of Congress to change that.

NO COMPROMISE

Republicans in the House of Representatives have already passed a stopgap funding fix to keep federal functions running through late November while a longer-term plan is thrashed out.

But the 100-member Senate does not have the 60 votes required to send it to Trump's desk, and Democrats say they won't help unless Republicans compromise on their planned spending cuts - especially in healthcare.

Senate Republican leaders, who have just one rebel in their own ranks, need eight Democrats to join the majority and rubber-stamp the House-passed bill.

They got three moderates to cross the aisle in an initial vote Tuesday and were hoping to peel off five more as the shutdown chaos starts to bite. But Wednesday's result went the same way.

Congress is not voting on Thursday out of respect for the Jewish Yom Kippur holiday, but the Senate returns to work on Friday and may be in session through the weekend.

The House is not due back until next week.