The ball is in the Senate’s court
Wednesday, October 8, 2025, will mark the beginning of the second week of the government shutdown.
On September 19, 2025, the House passed a “clean” continuing resolution (CR) to extend government funding until November 21, 2025. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) has the House out of session for the second week in a row, leaving the ball in the Senate’s court. Speaker Johnson has indicated that he will give members 48 hours’ notice before any vote and is encouraging Republicans to stay in their home districts until then. Keeping members in recess may be strategically helpful, not only because it keeps the shutdown a Senate-only fight, but also because it limits any unhelpful sound bites Republican representatives might give to media. Recess also keeps newly elected Rep. Adelita Grijalva (D-AZ) from being sworn in and becoming the 218th vote on the Epstein discharge petition.
The Senate has scheduled its fifth vote on the House-passed CR for today. A 60-vote threshold is necessary to advance the legislation. With Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) voting no, Republicans need to garner eight votes from across the aisle. So far, Sens. John Fetterman (D-PA), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), and Angus King (I-ME) have crossed the aisle to vote yes, and Republicans are trying to convince five more Democratic senators to change their votes.
For their part, Democrats continue to advocate for an extension of the expiring advanced premium tax credits (APTCs) as part of any deal to pass the CR. It is unclear how long they will be willing to hold that line. Republicans maintain that they will not negotiate on APTCs (which expire at the end of the year) until the government has re-opened. For now, there is no clear path out of the shutdown. But the one consistent from all previous shutdowns, is that they all have ended.
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