As the federal government shutdown enters its third week, Senate Majority Leader John Thune is shifting tactics after Democrats repeatedly blocked Republican-led efforts to extend government funding. Thune announced a new strategy: push through standalone funding for the Department of War to ensure military paychecks continue uninterrupted.
The Senate is expected to hold a procedural vote Thursday on a House-passed full-year appropriations bill for the Department of War (formerly the Department of Defense). The measure would not reopen the entire government but would secure pay for service members and advance the broader appropriations process stalled since Sept. 30.
“The entire country would like to know when Democrats are going to end their tantrum,” Thune said, accusing Democrats of putting political priorities over national defense while military families turn to food banks for support.
The government officially shut down on Oct. 1 after Senate Democrats rejected a clean continuing resolution (CR) passed by House Republicans. The CR would have kept the government funded through mid-November, giving lawmakers more time to negotiate all 12 annual spending bills. Democrats tanked the proposal, demanding the inclusion of massive health care expansions—most notably a $662 billion extension of pandemic-era enhanced Obamacare subsidies.
Republicans have refused to include those policies in a short-term funding bill. “Democrats’ motivation is pleasing their far-left base and preserving their political careers,” Thune said.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), defending the Democratic position, said delaying health care funding is unacceptable. “People can’t get sick on Republicans’ timeline,” he posted on X after voting against the CR.
While Congress remains deadlocked, the Trump administration is using the shutdown to aggressively downsize the federal bureaucracy. Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought said 4,000 non-essential positions have already been eliminated, calling it a “snapshot” of deeper cuts ahead. Vought expects total job reductions to exceed 10,000.
However, government employee unions have pushed back. A federal district judge issued an injunction Wednesday temporarily blocking the firings, after lawsuits were filed challenging the legality of the reductions.
If the Senate approves Thune’s Department of War funding bill, it would mark the first successful breakthrough in the shutdown standoff—but it would leave most of the federal government still unfunded.
