GOP 'afraid to do anything' unless Trump approves, says Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine
(NPR) Shutdown negotiations can't move forward without President Trump getting more involved in them because "Republicans are afraid to do anything unless the president blesses it," says Sen. Tim Kaine, a Democrat from Virginia.
The federal government has been shut down since Oct. 1. Congress has been unable to pass either of two dueling measures proposed by both major parties. Republicans want a clean spending resolution to fund the government for seven weeks. Democrats want to fund the government and extend Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies used by more than 20 million people, undo federal health spending cuts and limit Trump's power to withhold funds appropriated by Congress.
Both sides have blamed each other for the shutdown. House Speaker Mike Johnson warned on Monday that the U.S. is "barreling" toward one of the longest shutdowns in U.S. history, "unless Democrats drop their partisan demands and pass a clean, no-strings-attached budget to reopen the government and pay our federal workers."
https://www.npr.org/2025/10/14/nx-s1-5570840/tim-kaine-shutdown-federal-workers
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