Shutdown Begins; House CR Needs 60 Votes

Vice President J.D. Vance has been the White House’s public point-person since the federal government entered a shutdown, leading media appearances and a briefing that blamed Senate Democrats—particularly a Schumer–AOC faction—for refusing to back a short-term funding bill without concessions on health-care subsidies. Vance defended President Trump’s provocative “trolling” during talks, citing incidents like “Trump 2028” hats and a supercut video by Speaker Mike Johnson, and accused many Democrats of negotiating in bad faith. Republicans say the House-passed continuing resolution would keep the government funded through mid-November, but it still needs 60 votes in the Senate, including at least seven Democrats, to pass. As the shutdown began, OMB Director Russell Vought ordered agencies to prepare reduction-in-force notices, froze certain infrastructure funds and warned of possible layoffs, framing the moves as enforcement of the administration’s priorities. Democrats counter that the theatrics and personnel and funding threats are intimidation tactics that could prompt legal challenges, and negotiations remain stalled.