The government shutdown will drag on through the weekend after the Senate failed for the 10th time on Friday to pass a government funding solution before leaving town until Monday.
Republican and Democratic lawmakers are still at a stalemate as negotiations have appeared to go nowhere.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump and White House Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought have followed through with threats to fire thousands of federal workers during the shutdown.
The House has canceled votes for all next week as the government shutdown continues.
During the pro-forma session Friday afternoon, the clerk read a message from the speaker of the House designating Monday, Oct. 20 through Sunday, Oct. 26 “as a district work period.”
Earlier Friday, House Republican leaders canceled votes for just Monday.
Members are still on a 48-hour notice to return.
California Democratic Rep. Mark Takano is taking aim at President Trump’s ballroom at the White House — introducing legislation to prohibit the use of federal funds in its construction during a shutdown.
The White House has previously said that the construction of the ballroom is funded by private donations and that effort would continue during the ongoing government shutdown.
The bill is unlikely to pass in a Congress with Republican majorities in both chambers coupled with the president’s veto power.
Starting Monday, all federal courts will no longer have funding to sustain full, paid operations.
While judges will continue to serve with pay, members of the nation’s 33,000-court staff will either perform limited tasks unpaid or be put on furlough.
It will be up to each individual court to triage which cases and duties warrant unpaid work. There will likely be delays in cases up and down the judiciary.
The Supreme Court remains unaffected as it is not subject to annual appropriations.
House Republicans leaders officially canceled votes for next Monday, Oct. 20 as the shutdown continues.
Speaker Mike Johnson plans to keep the House on an indefinite 48-hour notice return, meaning the House will be out again all next week unless there is Senate action to resolve the government shutdown.
Next week will be the fourth conservative week the House has been on recess. The House took its last vote on Sept. 19and was also on recess the week of Sept. 22 for the Jewish holidays.
There are no House committee hearings or markups scheduled for next week.
House Speaker Mike Johnson reflected on another week of the shutdown — issuing a public apology to the millions of Americans who are “suffering.”
“I just feel like we ought to apologize,” Johnson said at a news conference on Friday, Day 17 of the shutdown. “I hate that we have to do this. I don’t want to be here any more than you do talking about this subject. It is so difficult to be a happy warrior when you know that so many millions of American people are suffering,” he said.
Johnson blamed Democrats for the ongoing shutdown — calling on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer again to reopen the government.
“We’re afraid that Americans are going to continue to suffer at the hands of Democrats’ political games,” he said.
