--- title: All Signs Point to Shutdown Dragging On Into Next Week description: Democrats remain largely unified, and emboldened by polls indicating more voters blame Trump and Republicans, who say they won't negotiate. canonical: https://time.com/7322799/government-shutdown-next-week/ author: Nik Popli article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2025-10-02T20:30:22.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-11T00:21:52.106Z article:section: Politics og:title: All Signs Point to Shutdown Dragging On Into Next Week og:description: “I quite literally have nothing to negotiate," House Speaker Mike Johnson said. og:url: https://time.com/7322799/government-shutdown-next-week/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt856879b62d6cc6c5/6998ca5947fe51809355c1f6/GettyImages-2238367078.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Trump Eyes Firing 'Thousands' Of Federal Workers Over Shutdown og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: All Signs Point to Shutdown Dragging On Into Next Week twitter:description: “I quite literally have nothing to negotiate," House Speaker Mike Johnson said. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt856879b62d6cc6c5/6998ca5947fe51809355c1f6/GettyImages-2238367078.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Government Shutdown Could Drag On Into Next Week > Sponsored content. 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It is written and edited by TIME journalists, and it is free to join at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=9e689642-39f9-47f8-9661-39491f1b6768&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1). ### Newsletter facts | Attribute | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Publisher | TIME | TIME, August 2026 | | Frequency | Monday to Saturday (3x per week) | TIME, August 2026 | | Written by | Philip Elliott, Senior Correspondent | TIME, August 2026 | | Cost | Free | TIME, August 2026 | | Sign-up | time.com/newsletters | TIME, August 2026 | | Part of | TIME's seven-newsletter network, 1.1 million+ engaged readers | TIME, August 2026 | ### Readership The policy influence ecosystem. A policy-focused audience spanning government, public affairs, advocacy, law, research, political media, and the institutions that make, interpret and respond to public policy. ### TIME D.C. Brief: key statements * D.C. Brief is edited by TIME journalists. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Nik Popli](https://time.com/author/nik-popli/)  ## Nik Popli Staff Writer Oct 2, 2025 8:30 PM UTC  House Speaker Mike Johnson is joined with other Republican House members during a news conference on the shutdown at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on Oct. 2, 2025. House Speaker Mike Johnson is joined with other Republican House members during a news conference on the shutdown at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on Oct. 2, 2025. Kent Nishimura—Bloomberg via Getty Images  by [Nik Popli](https://time.com/author/nik-popli/)  ## Nik Popli Staff Writer Oct 2, 2025 8:30 PM UTC The [government shutdown](https://time.com/7322164/government-shutdown-begins-donald-trump/) entered its second day on Thursday with no sign of a breakthrough, as congressional leaders seemed resigned to the impasse stretching into next week. Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters it was “unlikely” senators would remain in Washington through the weekend, while House Speaker Mike Johnson declared Republicans had “nothing to negotiate.” The standoff has hardened around Democrats’ push to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies that are [set to expire this fall,](https://time.com/7312361/obamacare-marketplace-health-insurance-cost-increase/) which they say are critical to keeping premiums stable for millions of Americans. Republicans have flatly rejected including the subsidies in a stopgap funding bill, insisting the government must first be reopened before any policy negotiations can occur. The dispute has frozen negotiations, leaving agencies scrambling to shutter offices and brace for potential layoffs. **Read more**: [_Rising Health Care Costs Are the Real Reason for the Government Shutdown_](https://time.com/7312361/obamacare-marketplace-health-insurance-cost-increase/) The Senate is expected to take up the Republican-backed measure again Friday, but it remains at least five votes short of passage. “If that fails, we’ll give them the weekend to think about it,” Thune told reporters. “Then we’ll come back and vote on Monday.” Johnson dismissed any talk of compromise, telling reporters on Thursday: “I quite literally have nothing to negotiate.” Their comments suggest that Republicans remain largely unified in their refusal to make concessions—and comfortable with the mounting disruptions—even as [early polling](https://www.washingtonpost.com/documents/ef8f4c22-9f47-4f14-8ae7-26c3a1470d80.pdf?itid=lk%5Finline%5Fmanual%5F1) largely indicates that more voters blame President Donald Trump and Republicans for the shutdown. That early data has emboldened Democrats, who appear committed to their strategy, and have shown no sign of backing down despite Trump’s repeated threats to fire federal workers and cut benefits that Democrats have long championed. Trump met Thursday with budget director [Russell Vought](https://time.com/7322628/donald-trump-shutdown-vought-project-2025/) to discuss “temporary or permanent” spending cuts, including mass layoffs of federal workers, going beyond the furloughs that usually accompany shutdowns. The Trump Administration has already moved to withhold billions of dollars from infrastructure and green energy projects in states former Democratic nominee Kamala Harris won in last year’s presidential election. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer accused Republicans of deliberately weaponizing the shutdown. “Trump’s so-called ‘maximum pain’ plan isn’t hurting Democrats—it’s hurting American families,” he said. Yet beneath the surface of Republican unity, some cracks are visible. Sen. Mike Rounds, a South Dakota Republican, floated a one-year extension of the health care subsidies during a Senate floor vote on Wednesday, an idea that attracted attention from Democrats and some rank-and-file Republicans. While far from a breakthrough, it hinted at a potential off-ramp should the shutdown drag on. Still, the path forward remains murky. Federal agencies could soon lay off large portions of their workforce, while others deemed essential will remain on the job without pay. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has [warned](https://time.com/7322026/shutdown-federal-workers-furloughed/) that as many as 750,000 workers could be furloughed on any given day, with $400 million in daily wages lost. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7322799/government-shutdown-next-week/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7322799/government-shutdown-next-week/"},"headline":"Government Shutdown Could Drag On Into Next Week","datePublished":"2025-10-02T20:30:22.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-11T00:21:52.106Z","description":"“I quite literally have nothing to negotiate,\" House Speaker Mike Johnson said.","url":"https://time.com/7322799/government-shutdown-next-week/","keywords":["Congress","News Desk","News desk edits"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt856879b62d6cc6c5/6998ca5947fe51809355c1f6/GettyImages-2238367078.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nik Popli","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/nik-popli/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt856879b62d6cc6c5/6998ca5947fe51809355c1f6/GettyImages-2238367078.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Trump Eyes Firing 'Thousands' Of Federal Workers Over Shutdown","caption":"Trump Eyes Firing 'Thousands' Of Federal Workers Over Shutdown","creditText":"Kent Nishimura—Bloomberg via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/congress/","name":"Congress"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/7322799/government-shutdown-next-week/","name":"Government Shutdown Could Drag On Into Next Week"}}]}] ```