President Donald Trump, back from a weeklong diplomatic trip to Asia, inserted himself into the shutdown fight in Washington overnight with a call on Senate Republicans to eliminate the filibuster and unilaterally reopen the government.
The request to change the traditional rule, though, was quickly rebuffed by Majority Leader John Thune.
That means the stalemate between Republicans and Democrats continues with no obvious end in sight. If not resolved before Wednesday, it will become the longest shutdown in U.S. history.
A new poll from ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos found more Americans blame Trump and the Republicans in Congress than the Democrats for the shutdown.
It remains to be seen whether Trump becomes more personally involved in ending the impasse as the political risk grow, especially as Americans seriously begin to feel and see the impacts, including lines at food banks and aviation delays.
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One before departure from Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, October 31, 2025.
Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters
On Saturday, the federally funded Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is set to lapse. That means roughly 42 million Americans who rely on the food stamp program will be vulnerable as they’re unable to get benefits.
Saturday also marks the start of open enrollment for Affordable Cart Act recipients, many of whom are facing much higher insurance premiums next year due to expiring tax credits.
Democrats are demanding President Trump and Republicans work with them to extend the ACA subsidies. Trump and Republican say they won’t negotiate until the government is reopened.
Trump on Friday doubled down on that approach.
“I’m always willing to meet. All they have to do is open up the country. Let them open up the country and we’ll meet,” Trump said as he stepped off Air Force One in Florida, where he will spend the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago estate.
Lawmakers are also out of town, with the House out of session next week and the Senate not set to return until Monday night.
Trump moves funds for military, but not for SNAP
Trump has made several moves to keep the military paid during the shutdown. He accepted a $130 million donation from a private donor. Then, the White House Office of Management and Budget shifted $5.3 billion in funds from other sources to pay military members on Oct. 31.
Is there a possibility that Trump can do the same for SNAP?
“Well, there always is,” Trump said on Friday before immediately pointing the finger at Democrats.
“But all the Democrats have to do is say let’s go. I mean, you know, they don’t have to do anything. All they have to do is say the government is open, and we only need five Democrats. But they’re, you know, they’ve become a radical left party,” the president said.
Carts full of groceries wait to be given to people in need at Curley’s House Food Bank days before the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits may expire due to the Federal government shutdown, October 30, 2025 in Miami.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, in a news conference Friday morning alongside House Speaker Mike Johnson, insisted the department’s contingency fund can’t legally be used keep SNAP funded during a shutdown.
“It is a contingency fund that can only flow if the underlying appropriation is approved. And listen, even if it could flow, it doesn’t even cover half of the month of November. So here we are, again, in two weeks, having the exact same conversation,” she said.
SNAP funding has been the focus of several lawsuits, with Democratic states suing the administration to keep the funds flowing. One federal judge on Friday temporarily ordered the Trump administration to continue funding benefits, though the administration could appeal.
Late Friday, Trump posted on his social media platform that government lawyers “do not think we have the legal authority to pay SNAP with certain monies we have available,” but that “it will BE MY HONOR to provide the funding just like I did with Military and Law Enforcement Pay” if the court would “clarify how we can legally fund SNAP as soon as possible.”
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins speaks alongside Speaker of the House Mike Johnson during a news conference on Capitol Hill on October 31, 2025 in Washington.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Democrats have taken aim at Trump, saying he hasn’t done enough to intervene. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer accused Trump of having “bowed down” to Chinese President Xi Jinping in Asia while two crises are soon to unfold at home on food aid and health care.
“Trump is a vindictive politician and a heartless man,” Schumer said on the Senate floor on Thursday.
Republicans, on the other hand, argue Democrats are the ones holding the government hostage.
“That’s how a child behaves. That is not how a responsible governing party behaves in the United States of America,” Vice President JD Vance said on Thursday after leading a White House roundtable on the impact of the shutdown on the aviation industry. Vance said holiday travel for Americans will be a “disaster” if the impasse isn’t over.
President Trump on Friday accused Democrats of having “lost their minds.”
