(NewsNation) — As the government shutdown reaches 21 days, there is still no end in sight, with both Republicans and Democrats blaming the other side.
While Washington politicians continue to hold the line on funding votes, Americans continue to feel the pain, with hundreds of thousands of federal workers going without pay, and millions of people facing the possibility that everyday services will fall through the cracks.
A top concern is air traffic controllers, with shortages entering a fourth week and more sick-outs expected.
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President Donald Trump and Senate Republicans are pointing the finger at Democrats, calling it the “Democrat shutdown” or “Schumer shutdown.”
Democrats, meanwhile, are blaming the president.
Last night, the Senate failed to advance a House-backed continuing resolution to fund the government for the 11th time.
Both House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., have said that the Nov. 21 funding deadline might need to be extended. Johnson says, “Democrats are eating the clock.”
Trump has also weighed in.
“We’re hoping the Democrats become much less deranged and that we will get the vote pretty soon,” Trump said. “I hear they’re starting to feel that way, too. They’re starting to feel like they really have to do what’s right for the country, and they will.”
Some Democrats are in favor of opening the government. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., has pushed Republicans to use the so-called “nuclear option” that would override the Senate filibuster to pass a bill to reopen the government.
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Some are warning the shutdown could stretch beyond Thanksgiving, with Americans continuing to feel the impact.
Federal workers have been furloughed or fired, with at least 750,000 furloughed, and Trump is making good on threats to begin firing workers.
Those firings, which include more than 4,000 layoffs, are being challenged in court, but workers are still grappling with the impact of the shutdown.
“I’m trying to be positive, but I struggle. It’s a struggle between being angry and being sad, because I definitely feel robbed, like my career was taken from me,” said fired federal worker Adrienne Burch. “I feel like we were criminalized and demonized, and we were just going to work. To have that ripped away from us again, not because of performance, not even because they can’t afford to pay us.”
