XPost: alt.politics.republicans, alt.politics.trump, sac.politics   
   XPost: talk.politics.guns   
   From: dei@fired.com   
      
   WASHINGTON (AP) — The government shutdown is poised to become the longest   
   ever this week as the impasse between Democrats and Republicans has   
   dragged into a new month. Millions of people stand to lose food aid   
   benefits, health care subsidies are set to expire and there are few real   
   talks between the parties over how to end it.   
      
   President Donald Trump said in an interview that aired Sunday that he   
   “won’t be extorted” by Democrats who are demanding negotiations to extend   
   the expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies. Echoing congressional   
   Republicans, the president said on CBS’ “60 Minutes” he’ll negotiate only   
   when the government is reopened.   
      
   Trump said Democrats “have lost their way” and predicted they’ll   
   capitulate to Republicans.   
      
   “I think they have to,” Trump said. “And if they don’t vote, it’s their   
   problem.”   
      
   Trump’s comments signal the shutdown could drag on for some time as   
   federal workers, including air traffic controllers, are set to miss   
   additional paychecks and there’s uncertainty over whether 42 million   
   Americans who receive federal food aid will be able to access the   
   assistance. Senate Democrats have voted 13 times against reopening the   
   government, insisting they need Trump and Republicans to negotiate with   
   them first.   
      
   The president also reiterated his pleas to Republican leaders to change   
   Senate rules and scrap the filibuster. Senate Republicans have repeatedly   
   rejected that idea since Trump’s first term, arguing the rule requiring 60   
   votes to overcome any objections in the Senate is vital to the institution   
   and has allowed them to stop Democratic policies when they’re in the   
   minority.   
      
      
   Trump said that’s true, but “we’re here right now.”   
      
   “Republicans have to get tougher,” Trump told CBS. “If we end the   
   filibuster, we can do exactly what we want.”   
      
   With the two parties at a standstill, the shutdown, now in its 34th day   
   and approaching its sixth week, appears likely to become the longest in   
   history. The previous record was set in 2019, when Trump demanded Congress   
   give him money for a U.S.-Mexico border wall.   
      
   A potentially decisive week   
      
   Trump’s push on the filibuster could prove a distraction for Senate   
   Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and Republican senators who’ve opted   
   instead to stay the course as the consequences of the shutdown become more   
   acute.   
      
   Republicans are hoping at least some Democrats will eventually switch   
   their votes as moderates have been in weekslong talks with rank-and-file   
   Republicans about potential compromises that could guarantee votes on   
   health care in exchange for reopening the government. Republicans need   
   five additional Democrats to pass their bill.   
      
   Thune told reporters Monday that he was “optimistic” that the Senate could   
   vote to reopen the government by the end of the week.   
      
   But he also added, “If we don’t start seeing some progress or some   
   evidence of that by at least the middle of this week, it’s hard to see how   
   we would finish anything by the end of the week.”   
      
   Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, a Democrat, said on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday   
   there’s a group of people talking about ”a path to fix the health care   
   debacle” and a commitment from Republicans not to fire more federal   
   workers. But it’s unclear if those talks could produce a meaningful   
   compromise.   
      
   Far apart on health care subsidies   
   Trump said in the “60 Minutes” interview that the Affordable Care Act —   
   often known as Obamacare because it was signed and championed by then-   
   President Barack Obama — is “terrible” and if the Democrats vote to reopen   
   the government, “we will work on fixing the bad health care that we have   
   right now.”   
      
   Democrats feel differently, arguing that the marketplaces set up by the   
   ACA are working as record numbers of Americans have signed up for the   
   coverage. But they want to extend subsidies first enacted during the   
   COVID-19 pandemic so premiums won’t go up for millions of people on Jan.   
   1.   
      
   Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said last week that “we want to sit   
   down with Thune, with (House Speaker Mike) Johnson, with Trump, and   
   negotiate a way to address this horrible health care crisis.”   
      
   No appetite for bipartisanship   
   As Democrats have pushed Trump and Republicans to negotiate, Trump has   
   showed little interest in doing so. He called for an end to the Senate   
   filibuster after a trip to Asia while the government was shut down.   
      
   White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said on Fox News Channel’s   
   “Sunday Morning Futures” that the president has spoken directly to Thune   
   and Johnson about the filibuster. But a spokesman for Thune said Friday   
   that his position hasn’t changed, and Johnson said Sunday that he believes   
   the filibuster has traditionally been a “safeguard” from far-left   
   policies.   
      
   Trump said on “60 Minutes” that he likes Thune but “I disagree with him on   
   this point.”   
      
   The president has spent much of the shutdown mocking Democrats, posting   
   videos of House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries in a Mexican sombrero.   
   The White House website is now featuring a satirical “My Space” page for   
   Democrats, a parody based on the social media site that was popular in the   
   early 2000s. “We just love playing politics with people’s livelihoods,”   
   the page reads.   
      
   Democrats have repeatedly said that they need Trump to get serious and   
   weigh in. Virginia Sen. Mark Warner said that he hopes the shutdown could   
   end “this week” because Trump is back in Washington.   
      
   Republicans “can’t move on anything without a Trump sign off,” Warner said   
   on “Face the Nation” on CBS.   
      
   Record-breaking shutdown   
      
   The 35-day shutdown that lasted from December 2018 to January 2019 ended   
   when Trump retreated from his demands over a border wall. That came amid   
   intensifying delays at the nation’s airports and multiple missed paydays   
   for hundreds of thousands of federal workers.   
      
   Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on ABC’s “This Week” that there   
   have already been delays at several airports “and it’s only going to get   
   worse.”   
      
   Many of the workers are “confronted with a decision,” he said. “Do I put   
   food on my kids’ table, do I put gas in the car, do I pay my rent or do I   
   go to work and not get paid?”   
      
      
      
   As flight delays around the country increased, New York City’s emergency   
   management department posted on Sunday that Newark Airport was under a   
   ground delay because of “staffing shortages in the control tower” and that   
   they were limiting arrivals to the airport.   
      
   “The average delay is about 2 hours, and some flights are more than 3   
   hours late,” the account posted.   
      
   SNAP crisis   
   Also in the crossfire are the 42 million Americans who receive SNAP   
   benefits. The Department of Agriculture planned to withhold $8 billion   
   needed for payments to the food program starting on Saturday until two   
   federal judges ordered the administration to fund it.   
      
   The Trump administration indicated in court Monday that it will only   
      
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