Government shutdown dwell updates as deadlock enters fifth week | USAEMALL.com

The Congressional Budget Office sent an economic analysis to House Budget Chairman Jodey Arrington assessing the impact of the ongoing government shutdown under three possible end dates: four, six, or eight weeks. The office found that the shutdown is delaying tens of billions of dollars in federal spending and temporarily slowing growth.

According to CBO, real GDP growth in the fourth quarter of 2025 will be 1 to 2 percentage points lower than it otherwise would be, depending on how long the shutdown lasts. Most of that loss would be reversed once funding resumes, but between $7 billion and $14 billion in output would not be recovered.

CBO estimates federal outlays will be $33 billion lower if the shutdown ends this week, $54 billion lower if it lasts six weeks and $74 billion lower if it extends through late November. That is mostly attributed to delayed pay for roughly 650,000 furloughed federal employees, paused contracts and a potential lapse in SNAP benefits after Oct. 31.

The agency said the economy should bounce back early next year as back pay and delayed spending are released, but warned that a portion of the lost output, primarily hours not worked during the lapse, will not be made up.

The Senate convened at 10 a.m. There are currently no plans to vote on the House-passed measure to fund the government, after the measure fell short of the 60 votes needed for a 13th time on Tuesday.

The Senate is not currently scheduled to vote on the House-passed measure to reopen the government today. 

The Senate convenes at 10 a.m. with a procedural vote on a measure to rollback a Biden administration rule on the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, along with a vote on a judicial confirmation, according to Majority Whip John Barrasso’s office.

At 2:15 p.m., the Senate will vote on reversing a rule on the barred owl management strategy in Western states.

The notice advised that “further roll call votes are expected during Wednesday’s session of the Senate.”

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins told CBS News on Tuesday that the Trump administration doesn’t have the legal authority to keep food assistance flowing during the government shutdown, as the federal program that helps more than 40 million Americans pay for groceries is set to halt payments on Saturday.

Rollins pushed back on calls to keep the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, funded by tapping a $5 billion contingency fund, arguing the administration doesn’t have the legal authority to use that money. She also noted that it would cost about $9.2 billion to fully fund SNAP next month.

“We’re trying to follow the law here,” she told CBS News senior White House correspondent Ed O’Keefe on “The Takeout.” “We’ve used Band-Aid and duct tape all along this whole last month. And, and as we’ve said, it’s not going to be there on November 1st.”

Pressed on why the administration hasn’t sought money from other sources, given that it has kept paying members of the military and FBI personnel, Rollins noted that the money for military pay is partially coming from a private donor.

The administration’s position has drawn stiff pushback from Democrats, who have urged the Department of Agriculture to draw down its emergency contingency funding.

Rollins responded by pressing Democrats to vote to reopen the government.

“I find it extremely rich that people would say that President Trump or our administration is playing politics with people’s hunger,” Rollins said.

World Central Kitchen, the nonprofit organization founded by celebrity chef José Andrés, is feeding furloughed federal workers in Washington, D.C., during the shutdown, with hot lunch until the stalemate ends. On Wednesday, they will open a second distribution at Navy Memorial Plaza, in addition to the Washington Canal Park location. Both will operate from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune poured cold water on the effort to up individual bills to pay certain groups of federal workers or fund programs like SNAP during the shutdown on Tuesday, as Democrats announced they would introduce legislation to fund the food aid program.

“This piecemeal approach, where you do one-off here, one-off there to make it seem more politically palatable to somebody or less painful, that’s just the wrong way to do this,” Thune said, urging that the simple way to resolve the issue is to approve the House-passed measure to fund the government until Nov. 21. 

Moments later, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced Senate Democrats would introduce a bill to fund SNAP, after the Department of Agriculture said federal food aid will not go out on Nov. 1. He also said the bill would ensure funding for the Women, Infants and Children program, known as WIC. 

The New York Democrat said the measure will get “broad, if not universal support” among Democrats. But whether it would come up for a vote or earn support from Republicans remained unclear.

The developments on narrower bills to pay workers or fund programs come as the Republican effort to advance a House-passed measure to reopen the government has fallen short of the 60 votes needed 13 times. Despite their effort to gain new support from Democrats, the bill has picked up no new support since before the shutdown began.