US government shutdown could become longest ever

The US government shutdown is poised to become the longest ever this week as the impasse between Democrats and Republicans dragged into a new month.

Millions of people in America could lose food aid benefits, health care subsidies are set to expire and there are few real talks between the parties over how to resolve the matter.

President Donald Trump said in an interview that he “won’t be extorted” by Democrats who are demanding negotiations to extend the Affordable Care Act subsidies that expire at the end of the year for millions of Americans.

Echoing congressional Republicans, the US president said on CBS’s 60 Minutes that he will only negotiate when the government is reopened.

Mr Trump’s comments signal that the shutdown could continue to drag on for some time as federal workers, including air traffic controllers, are set to miss additional paycheques and there is uncertainty over whether 42 million Americans who receive federal food aid will be able to access the assistance.

Senate Democrats have now voted 13 times against reopening the government, insisting that they need Mr Trump and Republicans to negotiate with them first.

The president said that Democrats “have lost their way” and predicted that they will eventually capitulate to Republicans.

“I think they have to,” Mr Trump said. “And if they don’t vote, it’s their problem.”

He also reiterated his pleas to Republican leaders to change senate rules and scrap the filibuster.

Senate Republicans have repeatedly rejected that idea since Mr Trump’s first term, arguing that the rule requiring 60 votes to overcome any objections in the senate is vital to the institution and has allowed them to stop Democratic policies when they are in the minority.

“Republicans have to get tougher,” Mr Trump said in the CBS interview. “If we end the filibuster, we can do exactly what we want.”

With the two parties at a standstill, the shutdown, now in its 33rd day and approaching its sixth week, appears likely to become the longest in history.

The previous record was set in 2019, when Mr Trump demanded that congress give him money for a US-Mexico border wall.