The latest on the federal government shutdown

(ASSOCIATED PRESS) — Tours at the Capitol have come to a standstill. The House is keeping its doors closed, while the Senate is stuck in a loop of failed votes on a rejected plan to reopen the government. President Donald Trump is threatening to mass fire federal workers and refuse back pay for the rest.

As the government shutdown enters a second week, there’s no discernible endgame in sight.

“You have to negotiate,” Sen. Bernie Sanders, the independent from Vermont, argued late into the evening on the Senate floor. “That’s the way it works.”

But no negotiations, at least publicly, are underway.

Shutdown grinds on, but signs of quiet talks
The Republicans who have majority control in Congress believe they have the upper hand politically, as they fend off Democratic demands to quickly fund health insurance subsidies as part of any plan to end the shutdown.

But so have Democrats dug in, convinced that Americans are on their side in the fight to prevent the looming health care price spikes and blaming Trump for the shutdown.

Behind the scenes, though, signs of discomfort are apparent.

A loosely formed collection of senators, Republicans and Democrats, have bantered about options for addressing the health insurance problem. One, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, has offered her own plans.

Two prominent Republicans, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, have said something must be done to stop the health insurance rate hikes.

Видео The latest on the federal government shutdown канала 13WMAZ