{"id":166552,"date":"2025-10-02T13:53:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-02T13:53:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/government-shutdown-live-updates-trump-and-democrats-dig-in-as-federal-employees-face-furloughs-nbc-news\/"},"modified":"2025-10-02T13:53:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T13:53:11","slug":"government-shutdown-live-updates-trump-and-democrats-dig-in-as-federal-employees-face-furloughs-nbc-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/government-shutdown-live-updates-trump-and-democrats-dig-in-as-federal-employees-face-furloughs-nbc-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Government shutdown live updates: Trump and Democrats dig in as federal employees face furloughs – NBC News"},"content":{"rendered":"

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news Alerts
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We\u2019d like to hear from you about how you\u2019re experiencing the government shutdown, whether you\u2019re a federal employee who can\u2019t work right now or someone who is feeling the effects of shuttered services in your everyday life. Please contact us at<\/strong><\/em> <\/strong><\/em>tips@nbcuni.com<\/strong><\/em><\/a> <\/strong><\/em>or reach out to us<\/strong><\/em> <\/strong><\/em>here<\/strong><\/em><\/a>.<\/strong><\/em>
Berkeley Lovelace Jr.<\/span><\/span><\/span>
Your Medicare, Medicaid or\u00a0Affordable Care Act coverage<\/a>\u00a0won\u2019t vanish during the\u00a0government shutdown<\/a>, but changes to some benefits and fewer government workers to help could still disrupt care for millions.
At the heart of the shutdown fight is whether Republican leaders accept a demand from Democrats to\u00a0extend Obamacare subsidies<\/a>\u00a0before they expire at the end of the year and premiums start skyrocketing. Democrats also sought to undo Trump\u2019s Medicaid cuts, but the GOP has shown no interest.
Fortunately for everyday people, core programs such as Medicare and Medicaid will keep running because their funding is built into law. But a popular Medicare benefit \u2014 telehealth \u2014 has already ended for many, and so-called discretionary programs, such as Community Health Centers (CHCs), may be at risk unless Congress acts soon.
Here\u2019s what the shutdown means for health care coverage.
Read the full story here.<\/em><\/strong><\/a>
Megan Lebowitz<\/span><\/span><\/span>
Trump said in a post on Truth Social that he would meet today with Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought “to determine which of the many Democrat Agencies, most of which are a political SCAM, he recommends to be cut.”
He said they would discuss whether the cuts would be “temporary or permanent.”
“I can\u2019t believe the Radical Left Democrats gave me this unprecedented opportunity,” he added.
Trump also noted in the post that Vought was “of PROJECT 2025 Fame.” Vought was a top author of the controversial conservative blueprint<\/a> for reshaping the federal government, which Trump sought to distance himself from during his campaign.
Steve Kopack<\/span><\/span><\/span>
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in an interview with CNBC this morning that he could “guarantee” Republicans will not meet Democratic leaders’ demands to extend Obamacare subsidies as a way to end the government shutdown.
Bessent also warned that shutting down the government could lead to “a hit to the GDP,” although most economists have downplayed the impact of the shutdown. They have noted that the longest lapse in government funding, which occurred in Trump’s first term, shaved only 0.4% off<\/a> of the country’s economic output.
Democrats are negotiating “like terrorists,” Bessent said, adding, “They want to say, ‘This is what we have to have, and if we don’t get it, we’re going to close down the government.'”
The treasury secretary also downplayed the threat of layoffs or permanent cuts to the federal workforce, calling the concerns a Democratic “talking point.” He then called Senate Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries, both of New York, “weak” and “discombobulated,” saying they were using the shutdown as an opportunity.
“President Trump, in the first nine months now, has been unstoppable,” Bessent said. “They’ve tried to stop him in the courts, they tried to stop him in the press, and now they’re trying to stop him with the shutdown.”
Sarah Dean<\/span><\/span><\/span>
Megan Lebowitz<\/span><\/span><\/span>
Trump said in a clip of an interview<\/a> with One America News Network set to air today that he could make permanent cuts to projects favored by Democrats during the government shutdown.
Asked whether he thought federal workers would be fired during the funding lapse, Trump blamed Democrats, saying, \u201cWell, there could be firings and that\u2019s their fault, and it could also be other things. I mean, we could cut projects that they wanted, favorite projects, and they\u2019d be permanently cut.”
“A lot of people are saying Trump wanted this closing \u2014 I wanted this \u2014 and I didn’t want it,” the president continued. “But a lot of people are saying it because I\u2019m allowed to cut things that should have never been approved in the first place, and I will probably do that.\u201d
Gabe Gutierrez<\/span><\/span><\/span>
Steve Kopack<\/span><\/span><\/span>
Megan Lebowitz<\/span><\/span><\/span>
E.J. Antoni, who was withdrawn this week<\/a> as Trump\u2019s nominee to be the next Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner, thanked senators who met with him after his nomination in a statement, but called it \u201cunfortunate\u201d that some \u201clack the courage\u201d to back change.\u00a0
\u201cI want to thank the President and the Treasury Secretary, all the senators who took the time to meet with me, and many others for their endorsements and faith in my abilities and commitment to the very reforms the American people asked this administration to deliver,\u201d he said in a statement.
\u201cIt is unfortunate that there are other elected officials who lack the courage to support this commonsense agenda of real change in Washington,\u201d he added.
Antoni, the chief economist at the Heritage Foundation, said he would continue working the conservative think tank and “advocate for the reforms BLS so desperately needs.\u201d
\u201cThe American people deserve nothing less than for these improvements to be implemented immediately as part of a larger agenda to make government more efficient and make the American Dream more attainable,\u201d he said.
Antoni\u2019s nomination came under scrutiny after the\u00a0White House said<\/a>\u00a0he was a \u201cbystander\u201d at the Capitol riot Jan. 6, 2021. Separately, he drew attention from the business community last summer when he told Fox Business Network that BLS should publish quarterly data rather than monthly jobs reports until those reports are more \u201caccurate.\u201d
Antoni was\u00a0nominated in August<\/a>\u00a0following Trump’s firing of previous BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer after a weaker-than-expected jobs report. Antoni did not respond to a request for comment on the withdrawal of his nomination at the time.
Aria Bendix<\/span><\/span><\/span>
Because yesterday marked the start of the 2026 fiscal year, the WIC program \u2014 which provides free, healthy food to low-income pregnant women, new moms and children under 5 \u2014 was due for an influx of funding.
Instead came the government shutdown<\/a>.
If it persists, access to the federal program, known in full as the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, could be jeopardized. A U.S. Department of Agriculture letter to WIC state agency directors yesterday confirmed that states would not receive their next quarterly allocation of funds during the shutdown.
According to the National WIC Association, a nonprofit advocacy organization that represents state and local WIC agencies, \u201cdevastating disruptions\u201d may deny millions of moms and children access to nutritious foods if the government remains closed for longer than a week or two.
Read the full story here.<\/em><\/strong><\/a>
Rebecca Shabad<\/span><\/span><\/span>
Melanie Zanona<\/span>Melanie Zanona is a Capitol Hill correspondent for NBC News.<\/span><\/span><\/span>
Julie Tsirkin<\/span><\/span><\/span>
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters yesterday that layoffs of federal workers because of the government shutdown are \u201cimminent.\u201d
\u201cUnfortunately, because the Democrats shut down the government, the president has directed his Cabinet and the Office of Management and Budget is working with agencies across the board to identify where cuts can be made. And we believe that layoffs are imminent. They are, unfortunately, a consequence of this government shutdown,\u201d Leavitt said.
She didn\u2019t give specifics on the extent of the workforce reductions.
OMB Director Russell Vought told House Republicans on a conference call yesterday afternoon that the firing of federal employees would begin in \u201cone to two\u201d days, GOP sources on the call said. Vought didn\u2019t outline the specifics of the plans.
Frank Thorp V<\/span>producer and off-air reporter<\/span><\/span><\/span>
The Senate will return at noon today, but will not hold any votes in observance of Yom Kippur.
Majority Leader John Thune, R-N.D., said yesterday that while the floor will be open for speeches, “it will be fairly quiet around here, but I\u2019m sure there\u2019ll be a lot of conversations going on.\u201d
Tomorrow, the Senate will again vote on whether to take up the same partisan short-term funding bills that have already failed three times. The chamber will also vote a bloc of 108 Trump nominees.
What happens after that depends on how discussions with Democrats go and whether more of them vote with Republicans to pass the House-passed stopgap bill, which retains the status quo in government spending.
Thune said bipartisan conversations happening and he gets “readouts from all those huddles, and I have had personal conversations with members and their members, on both sides.”
The aim, he said, is to build the number of Democratic caucus members who support the GOP bill to a “critical mass” of “at least eight, hopefully more than that.\u201d
Adam Edelman<\/span><\/span><\/span>
Bridget Bowman<\/span><\/span><\/span>
The political arm of Everytown for Gun Safety launched a $1 million ad buy in Virginia to boost Democratic gubernatorial nominee Abigail Spanberger ahead of the November election.\u00a0
As part of the buy, first reported by NBC News, the group will begin running two digital ads across the state that tout Spanberger\u2019s biography and her time in Congress. The ads will target independent and moderate voters in the state with a message focused on public safety.
One 30-second ad focuses<\/a> on Spanberger\u2019s career before Congress as a CIA officer. A narrator in the ad says Spanberger is running for governor \u201cto keep you and your family safe.\u201d
A second 30-second spot highlights her years<\/a> in Congress, touting her work \u201cacross the aisle to hire more police officers and keep guns away from violent criminals.\u201d
\u201cAs a federal law enforcement officer and Moms Demand Action volunteer, Abigail Spanberger knows from experience what it takes to protect families from gun violence,\u201d said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund. \u201cEnsuring her election as Virginia\u2019s next governor is a top priority for Everytown, and our volunteers will go all-out to help one of their own become Governor.\u201d
Spanberger faces Republican Winsome Earle-Sears, currently the state\u2019s lieutenant governor, in the race to succeed GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who is term-limited.
NBC News
© 2025 NBCUniversal Media, LLC<\/p>\n

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