Government shutdown becomes second-longest in history on Day 22

The Senate can’t hold a vote on advancing the continuing resolution — or anything else, for that matter — until Sen. Jeff Merkley ends his marathon floor speech, which has now surpassed the 18-hour mark. 

Exactly when Merkley will wrap up remains to be seen. His office said earlier in the morning that he “plans to go as long as he is able to bring attention to how Trump is ripping up the Constitution and eroding our democratic institutions.”

House Democratic leaders and members of the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee are holding a meeting to highlight the effects of the government shutdown Wednesday morning, criticizing House Republicans for remaining away from Washington as the funding lapse enters a fourth week. 

“Today’s Day 22 of the Trump-Republican shutdown of the federal government, and all across the country, every day Americans are hurting,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said in opening remarks.

The lawmakers are hearing testimony from federal employees.

GOP Rep. Bruce Westerman of Arkansas, the chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources, spoke at Johnson’s press conference to highlight the impact of the shutdown on national parks and public lands. 

Most national parks have stayed open during the shutdown, albeit with reduced staffing and services. But Westerman said that could change if the funding lapse continues. 

“This can’t continue indefinitely. Despite all the extraordinary efforts being made, at some point, without funding, the public lands will not be accessible to the public,” Westerman said. “The longer this unnecessary shutdown lasts, the more negative consequences it will start to [have]. Without regular staffing, litter will pile up, and park ecosystems will be affected.”

GOP Rep. Mike Simpson of Idaho, the chairman of the subcommittee that oversees appropriations for the Interior Department, noted that families who have vacations planned are canceling their trips due to the shutdown.

“It’s a great time to visit our national parks. But we have families who have been planning to visit our national parks, for years sometimes, putting aside the resources, that are now canceling their visits to our national parks because of this shutdown and the impact that it could potentially have on their vacations,” said Simpson. “Unfortunately that’s very damaging.”

Both lawmakers praised the Trump administration for trying to keep the accessible areas of the parks open, in contrast to the shutdown of 2013, when the Obama administration closed parks.

At his daily press conference at the Capitol, Speaker Mike Johnson acknowledged that the shutdown is now the second-longest in U.S. history, and laid the blame for it at the feet of the Democrats.

“While it’s already been, as we noted yesterday, the longest full government shutdown in history, Oct. 22 marks another landmark. This is now the second-longest government shutdown of any kind ever, in the history of our country,” Johnson said. “And it’s just shameful. Democrats keep making history, but they’re doing it for all the wrong reasons.”

Sen. Jeff Merkley, an Oregon Democrat, is speaking on the Senate floor in protest of President Trump’s policies. He began speaking at 6:21 p.m. on Tuesday evening and has carried on speaking through the night. 

You can watch a live stream of Merkley’s speech in the player at the top of this page.

Read more here.

A government shutdown occurs when Congress fails to approve funding for federal agencies. Before 1980, agencies largely continued operating during a lapse in funding with the assumption that Congress would act quickly. But in 1980 and 1981, then-Attorney General Benjamin Civiletti authored a series of legal opinions that found government agencies didn’t have the authority to continue running during a gap in funding.

President Ronald Reagan oversaw eight shutdowns during his time in office, the longest of which lasted three days. There were three funding gaps between 1990 and 1995, then none until 2013.

The longest shutdown occurred from late 2018 into early 2019, which stretched on for 35 days. The 1995 shutdown lasted 21 days, which the current shutdown has now eclipsed.

Read more about the history of shutdowns here.

The Senate is expected to vote Wednesday on a House-passed measure to fund the government until Nov. 21. 

The vote marks the twelfth attempt to advance the measure in the upper chamber. It last fell short of the 60 votes needed on Monday, winning no new support from Democrats despite the suggestion from GOP leaders that they may find more support from across the aisle after the weekend’s “No Kings” protests. 

All but one Republican have consistently supported the measure, along with two Democrats and one independent who caucuses with Democrats, meaning support from five more Democrats is needed to clear the hurdle. The bill has failed to gain any new votes from across the aisle since the shutdown began.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said at a lunch meeting at the White House Tuesday that the Senate would vote again Wednesday on the House-passed measure, saying Republicans are unified on the effort to reopen the government with the bill.

“We’re hopeful that this will be the week when we break out of this, and the Democrats come to their senses and decide to open up the government,” he said.